Moose on the loose....

July 8, 2022

Yesterday I headed over to Algonquin Park to meet up with an old friend who was up from her home in Florida, visiting family in Huntsville. The half way place between there and here is roughly at the Visitor's Center in Algonquin Park, so we agreed to meet there. We had a lovely long visit, having not seen each other in person for 11 years. 

The Center is located along the main highway that runs through the busy southern portion of the park. It was a sublime summer day, with clear skies, puffy white clouds and warm sunshine. I was surprised at how little traffic there was, and how few vehicles were parked at the trail heads I passed, and how few folk were at the Visitor's Center, it being the peak of holiday season.

There is the off hand chance that you might see a moose feeding on pond lilies in the ponds one can see along the highway, but not too likely in the middle part of the day.

I headed home, and stopped to snap a photo of the East Gate on the way out,

then another of one of the big moose warning signs along the highway.

So, home safe and sound, and later, off to bed I went, to be awakened shortly by Hubby leaning over and whispering..."Cow and calf in the yard!" I rolled out of bed and went to the upstairs window to look down at a cow moose, and a little blondish-red coloured calf standing right below me at the side of the picnic table by the garden beds! Daylight lasts on toward 10PM at this time of the year, so there was plenty of light to see. The cow looked sooo big! They looked like they were waiting to be served at the table, and I had visions of them having a meal on my garden! Mama sniffed at the pot of pansies on the table with her big nose, then at the burgeoning potato greenery in the barrel right beside the table. They then slowly meandered toward the end of the pond, walking right along the end of the row of garden beds. The little one stayed close to mom, although she/he did stop and seem fascinated by the curiously white-veined leaves of the squash plant at the end of one of the beds! 

By the time they got to the pond edge, Hubby had grabbed a camera and had stepped outside the back door, Moma moose looking toward the sound of the door, her ears radaring around. The little one did a short jaunt along the trail toward the garden shed, but stopped.

They stood at the edge of the mown grass for a bit, then Moma stepped down through the rough edge and into the pond, splashing along through the shallower water, past the trail camera positioned there.

moose butt

The little one came back and walked down my rock steps into the pond to join her mom. They waded along the east edge of the pond until Mom could reach a willow growing there. We could see them, and hear their splashing footsteps, then the rustling of the willow branches as the cow pulled them down with her mouth, stripping the leaves off. She browsed along, the calf close beside her, then they came out of the pond at the north end, to eventually walk along past the woodshed and disappear behind the barn. This calf was small, and we are sure it was not the same one that was by the trail camera a while back.

It is rather ironic to return from Algonquin, known for its moose, come home and have them in the yard!