The loyal readers of this blog know that Sandi speaks to each and every animal encountered, regardless of size, as if they are a cat, and this humongous specimen was no exception. I'd read that a nearly newborn calf only five days old can run faster than a human, and this guy was considerably older than that. It brought to mind the old joke (a variation of which I told her within ten seconds of stopping for this guy):
Two guys are walking through a forest when they see a big bear heading toward them.
One of them begins frantically putting on his running shoes.
The other man says, "What're you thinking? You're not going to be able to outrun a bear!
"I don't have to be able to outrun a bear," the man said, "I just have to be able to outrun you!"
Bull moose have a fuzzy thick skin (called velvet) covering their antlers until late summer, when it begins to dry up, itch and fall off. The moose might rub it on trees or shrubs to facilitate losing it, and it hangs off in bloody shreds for a time. It ain't pretty and Mr. Moose ain't happy; he knows he's not at his most attractive and it bugs him to be seen at less than his best. And that's how we caught this big guy.
Now I don't think I would have left Sandi at the mercy of an irritable, 900-lb, six-and-a-half foot tall wild animal charging towards us but this is going to have to be one of those hypothetical "you never know how you'll actually respond until it happens to you" situations. I know I was ready to run, especially when I blew the camera flash ONE LOUSY TIME and he instantaneously went, "SNOOOOOOOOORRRRRRTTTTTT" in a really loud and phlegmy manner. I woke up crying fifty yards down the trail. Sandi, on the other hand, was still trying to get him to eat berries from her hand.
I slunk back for one more shot before he mercifully turned and lumbered off.
We lived! Here's the sky under which we walked the rest of the way back:
We got to see mother and child one more time:
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