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)