Tonights Excitement

[FutureChickenMan]

So it's just about dusk, the beagles are out in the yard playing.. then they both start howling like crazy.. I mean really going nuts. Last time they did that my neighbor was wandering around the yard with a flashlight looking for his cat. So of course I get up to go see what the heck is going on. So down by the pond stands mamma moose and her baby.. and my two stupid beagles are howling and barking at them. Dumb dumb dogs. So ya know, I love those dumb dogs and I cant let mamma moose stomp them in to oblivion.. So I walk out there calling the dogs off but they have obsessive compulsive disorder so they aint listening. I wander up behind the older beagle and was able to grab her by the hind legs and pull her away from the moose. At that point I was within 10 feet of mama. I was shocked how calm she was with baby there just standing by the pond staring me down. I made it quick to grab the dog and back away making sure mama knew I was backing off. One dog down, one to go. I wander down to the lower field where the younger dog.. amazingly that dog came when I called her but I had to be close enough for her to see and hear me. At that point I was about 20 feet from mama moose. Now that the dogs were rustled up I took them inside and grabbed the camera.

Just so you get an idea how big a moose is, here's mama and baby standing by my full size ford bronco.

here's the younger dog doing her thang.. sorry the picture is blurry, my wife was having a fit cause ya know the dogs are the "babies".. and the autofocus isn't so great at dusk.

This one is really blurry, but thats me on the lower left corner walking down to get the dogs.. you can see how close i got and this wasn't even the closest point.. my wife (behind the camera) freaked when she saw how close i was and went in side..

 

[texaschickmama]

OMGosh, You could have been stomped to death. Aren't the mommas really protective over their young like a bear? Lucky you, I would have been freaked out too.

 

[Freebie]

Very cool, and how very nice of her not to attack you getting so close to her baby. She must not have felt threatened, even by the dogs. Great pics too!!

I had a white tail deer (doe) attack two of my dogs. Apparently she had decided to use my back pasture for a nursery, and I had them out with me doing chores. I sent them out of the barn and next thing I know they were being chased by the doe all the way up to the house and around the car a couple of times. It was so weird. I finally got them in the barn with me and she stayed outside the barn and kept like bleating at me every time I opened the door. She stayed out there for about 10 minutes. I finally walked up to the house and got the van to go pick up the dogs. ( I did not want her going after the dogs again.)

 

[FutureChickenMan]

the weirdest thing is I wasn't scared of her at all. I figured as long as she was calm, I had no reason to get freaked out. Mama moose did charge one of the dogs once but it was only 3 or for steps and the dog high taled it out of there. You might not know it but beagles (or at least ours) are really fast. They run down deer all the time, luckily they stop for the underground fence..

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Wow! She is big! Glad we don't have to worry about them here

Lisa

 

[seminolewind]

I have always wanted to see a moose first hand in real life. No luck so far. I think they are incredible. But I don't think I would have gotten that close!

 

[speckledhen]

Awesome animals! Dont have moose way down south, but always thought they were impressive.

 

[chickbea]

A person I work with once had a mother moose kick in the side of her car as she was trying to edge past it one night. She had a very hard time getting her insurance guy to believe that one!

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Cool pictures.
you are crazy though to get that close to a Cow moose, especially with a calf. Moose are amazing but unpredictable animals. You're lucky she was in a good mood. If she decided to charge there is no way you could run faster then her and standing your ground to a moose is like standing your ground with a train. As much as I love my dog, if she's not smart enough to get in the house away from a moose there's no way I'm going after her.

When I lived up north more I had them run down the middle of the road in front of my truck. Occasionally you get a young bull that would turn around and try and challenge, now that gets scary. I've only a seen a few where I live now, but I've seen the damage they can do.

Weird story about a moose. When I was a teenager I had a friend who killed a moose with his bicycle. He was riding down his dirt road probably way to fast and a moose just stepped out in front of him. My friend skidded sideways too late and ended up crashing into the leg of the moose, breaking it. The moose had to be put down. Amazingly my friend got out of it with just scrapes and road rash and a lot of meals. It was hard to believe, but if you've ever seen a moose, their legs aren't that thick and it doesn't take much force to snap one.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Yeah they are big and dangerous. Most definitely don't get anywhere near the calf mom will go nuts and could stomp you in to oblivion. I really don't know why she was so calm with me out there. But I knew they were there for the water and the dogs weren't letting them have it. So I removed the dogs, maybe mom liked that and cut me some slack. Plus she saw me coming so it wasn't like I surprised her. Most of the critters in my area will take off and not challenge the bipeds (lol).. It's really weird, we get deer, elk and moose. If the dogs are out the deer will take off. If it's just me out there, they don't care, they just keep an eye on me. But the deer are certainly more protective than that moose was. I get the hiss and stomp from the deer if I get too close.

My co-worker who's an avid hunter said I was lucky mama moose didn't run me down. I laughed and said.. "I'm the moose whisperer you're just jealous". He's never been that close to a living moose and was totally shocked by how close I was.

I was really surprised they didn't take off when i came out of the house. I guess they really wanted that water.