Moose and Me

I have been a big fan of moose for as long as I remember. They are beautiful animals with size, strength, and ability to survive in the harshest of environments. It is this combination that endeared me to the moose long before I ever even saw one in real life. They are at the top of my list of favorite wild animals (right up there with the buffalo and the bear).

When I lived in Ohio, there was a huge Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store nearby. The store was filled with mounted animals, including bears, raccoons, deer, foxes, wolves, and many more. Everywhere you looked an animal was staring back at you. My favorite one was the huge bull moose on the upper level. Every time I went into the store, I would stop by the big bull and marvel at his size and beauty. Unfortunately, that was as close as I came to seeing a moose for 40 years.

It wasn't until I came to Alaska that I actually saw a real moose. Sadly, my first view of a moose in the wild was of a dead one. In the Northern Rocky Mountains on the Al-Can Highway, I saw a dead moose on the side of the road, the victim of a collision with a vehicle. Once I got to Alaska, my first glimpse of a live moose wasn't exactly what I expected; it was in the parking lot of Costco in Anchorage.

My real experience with moose didn't start until sometime in April of 2011. Early one morning, just past sunrise, I was driving across the Palmer Hay Flats just south of Palmer and Wasilla. It was a beautiful morning, with the sun peaking over the Chugach Mountains and a light fog drifting from the Cook Inlet over the flat landscape. As I looked across the wide open flats, there were moose everywhere. I counted at least 30 of them scattered around foraging in the emerging spring. It was spectacular.

In the months since that first real moose encounter, I have had many more occasions to see moose, from a distance and up close. Even still, I really don't know a lot about them. Over the next few weeks, I will be researching the moose to learn more about them, their habitat, their impact on human life (and vice versa), and the challenges they face. I will be continuing my observations of moose in their habitat. I will also reflect on many of my experiences with them during the past year. I can't wait to get to become better acquainted with the moose and share the experiences.

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Postscript: Someone mentioned that I should expound more on the Costco moose. I wish there was more to expound on, but there really isn't much more to say. As I sat at a red light on the way to work, I saw a moose walking across the empty parking lot. That was about all there was to it, unfortunately. The light turned green and I went on to work. :-)