I had a near religious experience today. It was a glorious day - sun beaming into the office, cool air, it made me and the animals extremely happy! When I got back to the office from a couple of great meetings, I admittedly nearly drove into a snowbank as I watched my good neighbour muskox undertaking something I had not yet seen. Now, to be fair, I have seen and photographed a variation of this, but nothing quite so high-wire-ish.
The muskox, you see, have a small, half fence surrounding them, followed by a full fence at least 3 ft. further - because that is as far as the muskox can push the fence. Logical. This guy, however, was using his hoof to push down on the fence as if he was trying to find his balance to walk. Push, push, push, but then one foot over, two feet, three. Fortunately, after three it was mission abandoned. It actually sounds a WHOLE lot worse then it is, because in all honestly they are using the fence to scratch their undersides, but it was FASCINATING to watch the dynamic between it and the fence. I hung out for several minutes and finally got this kind of behaviour taped - that and two muskox jostling a bit. Fun!
I thought that would be the highlight of my animal adventure. Not bad for a Monday. But, as I was talking to Mike a while later, a dark mass caught the corner of my eye in what should be the moose pen. But it couldn't be, I thought, I have walked by the moose pasture so many times and barely seen more than a dark shape off in the distance. For the record, the moose are in a pasture that is approximately 100 acres in size - with swamp and trees and they are barely more than a shape in the distance. Our telescope (I know, I know, I couldn't find binoculars fast enough) confirmed it was a moose and he was at the front of his pasture. Exciting!!!! A while later, starving and tired, I let Mike go. But.... walking into the kitchen I could not fight it any longer. The moose was STILL by the feeders and I just HAD to see how close I could get. I began walking to the pasture, taking pictures every few hundred feet - surely, I can't get any closer than this before it bolts, I kept thinking....
As I got closer, the "baby" moose did move farther away, and its daddy kept a VERY close eye on me from afar. The "baby," however, never really went that far and I was able to walk right up to the feed station with it still in plain site. Moments later, daddy started meandering towards me in a very casual way. I totally expected it to walk over to its son, so I started taking a video of the process. Mesmerized, the adult moose was literally 3 feet from me before I sort of silently panicked and tried walking backwards very, very slowly. Fence or no fence, it is a full size moose!! My video gets a bit wonky at this point - I can't get through 3 ft of snow very gracefully and it is so close my camera is only capturing random body parts, but after a several seconds I have it sorted again, and just stared in awe while he calmly ate in front of me.
Of all the animals on the Preserve, I think the moose are the least used to humans, and I never imagined an experience like this. Seeing them that close was awe-inspiring and I, quite literally, just stood there jaw dropped for a very long time. Unfortunately, my rash decision to go out did not include proper attire to stand and stare, so after several minutes I ran, walked, skipped and sang back home. I had shivers from head to toe - and certainly not just from the cold! I immediately called to prevent Mike from sleeping - unbelievably moved by such a peaceful and unforgettable experience.
ps, the video will have to follow - our wireless just isn't up to the challenge, but enjoy the photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment