Tuesday, May 06, 2008


The Moose is Loose
Lovers of scat (no, not the Cab Calloway type), but the type that's left behind on the trail from an animal's behind, take note. I know moose droppings when I see them. After all, I grew up in New Hampshire, one of the moose-densest states in America. In the Granite State we have signs on every major road tallying moose-car collisions (sobering) signs denoting moose crossings (nearly in every town) and special conservation plates bearing the moose! So, when I was recently hiking down the Stehekin River Trail in the Stehekin Valley in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area , I knew that the ungulate nuggets before me were not deposited by deer or elk; they could only be from a moose! And I was right-this large and lumbering member of the deer family is alive and well and hanging out in the Stehekin Valley. Cool! I have only seen a moose once in Washington State and that was in Liberty Lake just a mile from the Idaho border. I've had plenty of moose sightings in Idaho, Montana, BC, Alaska, Yukon, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Vermont and of course New Hampshire. It's only a matter of time before I start sighting a few more here in the Evergreen State. The moose is loose and he's leaving his pellets behind to prove it. Good luck sighting one of these beasties.

(photo- evening along the Stehekin River April 2008)

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