Change is Coming

The 45 degree temperature feels almost tropical today. The heavy snowpack is starting to melt with startling quickness. There is a long way to go before it is gone, but a lot of progress is being made. There are even a couple of spots where the grass is visible for the first time since before Thanksgiving. Change is coming, and I will have to get out the lawn mower in a few weeks.

Our neighborhood moose cow and calf are back for their regular visit. I can see change is on the way for them too. They are still relegated to eating twigs and limbs for a while longer, but the snow is not as deep and the going is not as slow. But that isn't the big change I notice.

A cow gives birth to a calf in late spring or early summer. For almost a year after that, she and the calf are inseparable. In the fall, the calf is weaned and the cow breeds again, but the once again pregnant cow and her calf stay together through the winter and into the spring. Then, about a month before birthing time for the cow, she shoos away her eleven-or-so month old calf. After being shadowed by mother for all its life, it is now on its own.

I've watched this pair throughout the winter, with the cow constantly there to watch over the calf (including the charging episode I wrote about earlier). Rarely has the calf been more than thirty feet from mom. Yet today the distance between them seems to be growing. Make no mistake...the cow is still very alert to any hint of danger, but she seems to be gradually allowing the calf more independence. She knows the time will soon come when he will be on his own.

She lingers in our yard, while he strolls down the road. She watches him go a few hundred feet, finally stopping to munch on a tree about six houses down. She munches on our tree, all the while keeping an eye on him. Finally she decides he's had enough freedom and strolls down to join him. She's still in charge for now, but one day soon they will part company for good.