No More Moose

Moose (Alces americanus)

These photos are of the last moose that I have seen. 

They are from September, 2018. 

Moose used to be very plentiful here. But suddenly they disappeared. Ticks have been killing them. Scientists have found upwards of 40,000 ticks on moose. Not on their entire body. Only on the part that was counted. The ticks seem to be a danger now because the climate is warmer, which allows the ticks to survive the winter and breed more successfully than ever before. Moose are most numerous in the Northeast Kingdom,where I live, than in other areas of Vermont. While I have not seen any for years, the Barton road crew has told me that a bull is seen frequently on my land.

I have so many memories of moose. Back in the day when cats were allowed outside, I would see them scuttle for shelter if a moose strolled by. One day, I saw a family with one calf casually sauntering down the double-yellow line in the road on their way to the wetlands across the road from me. They were coming down the road that circles Barton Mountain here. It's a windy road with no way for you to see what is around the next bend. I leaned out the window and yelled at them as loudly as I could to get out of the road. The bull looked at me and slowly, slowly, and grudgingly led his family into the bog.

But I also remember when the daughter of a good friend at church was killed in a collision with a moose. There is no news radio or newspaper, so I found out at the store in town and everyone was giving updates on the search for the woman. It was too eerily quiet in the store; you immediately knew something terrible had happened. She was a nurse in a hospital 30 miles away. She was returning home from a midnight shift. The state troopers did not find her or her car or the moose for over 12 hours. This woman had three very young daughters; one was only one-month old. The family was destroyed. My friend's marriage ended in a divorce.

I hope this horrible fallout from climate change can be reversed and the moose return. Fortunately, they can migrate further north to Canada. I assume. I hope they did. I believe there is nothing else that we as individuals can do for climate change except harass and hound our legislatures to get moving on it. It's up to the big guys now to get this fixed and not rely on the little people like us to do the heavy lifting when we have no power to do so. The environment, and our souls, need them to return.

Saturday's Critters at
Viewing Nature with Eileen

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Our Moose of Beaver Bog

Our moose has returned

Last summer we had a female moose in residence in the bog that we saw regularly three times a day for weeks. She appears to be back, bigger than ever. I don't know how to identify individual mooses, but animals usually return to spots that they have enjoyed in the past. So I say this is her. You can judge for yourself by clicking here and comparing.

Here, she is munching cat tails.

The moose is in her "molt," so she looks pretty scruffy and three-toned. But soon she'll be looking fine and will only have two tones.

She doesn't like her photo being taken

This is a cross-post from meeyauw's Photo A Day blog (where the photos are larger).

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The Runaway Pond Moose

On May 9, I was driving south on Route 16 in Glover when a moose popped out of the woods at Runaway Pond. My camera was in its bag, but I got it out (while driving) and shot a few frames (while driving) through the filthy windshield (the photograph above) . I decided that even though I was late to an appointment, I would stop and follow the moose, who had entered Runaway Pond. I parked and hiked into the dry pond. I got the photographs below. She was a big moose and in good condition. She did not like me following her, and soon went into the woods. The moral of the story: always keep your windshield clean. Mine is still filthy.

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Scott Wheeler: Giving a Voice to Vermonters in Montpelier » Sad Story From Barton

Scott Wheeler: Giving a Voice to Vermonters in Montpelier » Sad Story From Barton

I'm friends with the family who is suffering this awful loss and the entire town of Barton — indeed, the entire Northeast Kingdom — is shocked and sad. Please help my church help the family. The moose collision took place at Sheffield Heights on I-91, the infamous section of the road where the weather is horrid and the moose are many. I constantly worry about my family when they travel that road.

Sad Story From Barton
swheeler at 5:47 am on Saturday, June 12, 2010

Although outside of my district, I can’t help but feel for the family of a young woman who was killed when her car hit a moose. She leaves behind three children from nine years to six months. I can not imagine their pain. If anybody wishes to donate to a fund for the family they can mail it to the “Larose Fund” to the Barton United Church, PO Box 306, Barton, Vermont 05822. Hopefully the Save the Pete people will now refocus their lives from a moose (who, no, contrary to some people, is not a human, does not talk, and isn’t running for governor) onto this suffering family. My heart goes out to them.

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Best Laid Plans: Moose Tracks

Route 16, which goes by the house, has been repaved. It's been a long process. On May 17, the crew finally had laid the new shoulders of blue stone. They had expensive machinery pounding the stone in the shoulder in a solid, hard mass. This isn't the soft, sandy shoulders of the old road. And then overnight . . . a big, old moose came out of the bog, walked down the road on the new shoulder for almost a quarter of a mile before it crossed the road to the mountain. The shoulder there is permanently holey now. So much for the hard work of that crew.

On the same day, Amelia and I took all three dogs for a walk. I have Willow, so you don't see her. Here is Amelia with Scout and Sophie. Our house is way, way back (that white speck), and the mountain is Barton Mountain, the middle hump. Barton Mountain has three humps: big, medium (in the middle) and small. From where we live, the mountain does not look like a mountain. But that is because we are only about 800 feet (244 m) from the summit, which is at 2, 235 feet (681 m).

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A Jumping Moose

This young bull moose was gallivanting all over Barton Village last week. Then he decided to come up here. He crossed the road from our land on the mountain side of the road and went through the beaver bog to the woods on the other side. He is probably now around May Pond or Willoughby Lake. These photos were taken on a sunny morning through the glass of the sun porch windows.

I am most proud of the photo below showing the moose jumping a stream in the bog. There was no skill involved in this, just pure luck. I'm glad the moose came by during John's first week here because no "outside people" believe me about the number of moose in the area (the NEK is over-populated with moose).

Click on either photo to see it full size in a new window.

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Twin Baby Moose and Sprinkler - Video

Click the photo or the link below to watch a wonderful video of two baby moose and their mother. I only wish more details had been given (where or when the video was taken? by whom?).

Twin Baby Moose and Sprinkler - Video

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Moose

I think it is a young bull. He came down my driveway, crossed the road and wandered over the beaver bog. You can see how tall the grass is and how deep the water is. When Amy took the dogs for their walk this morning they wanted to smell the moose tracks for quite a long, long time.

When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.

Cross-posted from Barton Daily Photo.

Technorati Tags: Alces alces, moose
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