This was my closest mother-and-calf encounter of the year, and as is the case with almost all my encounters -- this one offered something unique and fun and special all at the same time. A littl...
This was my closest mother-and-calf encounter of the year, and as is the case with almost all my encounters -- this one offered something unique and fun and special all at the same time. A little over halfway through my hike, I caught a glimpse through the trees of the unmistakable profile of a big moose. I had my camera ready to go, and very quietly moved into a position that offered a better view. But, this encounter was already so very close, that I had serious doubts if the moose would stay put long enough for any decent photos. We were only about 40ish feet away from each other at first, but she had no clue that I was there (which isn't ideal with moose in my opinion). I made myself obvious, but continued to photo. Mother moose definitely looked at me, but went right back to grazing. Had she seen me and instantly accepted me?? No, I didn't get the impression that she realized I was there. And then I saw her calf just behind her. The calf ABSOLUTELY saw me and I could see her eyes really open up wide as she looked at me. Mom continued to graze and come closer. Now maybe 20 feet away, I sat down the camera and made sure that she knew a human was so very close. At that point she processed it for a second and retreated fairly quickly with her calf. She only trotted about 100 feet away and so I slowly worked my way around to watch them a bit more. I began to think that mother moose might not have the best eyes and ears... perhaps she was getting old or just not as tuned in as other moose. Mother came back my direction, but I knew she didn't know that I was close by. She laid down and the calf followed suit. I didn't want to stay put forever, and I didn't really have a view for any good pics, so I made myself known again. Mother got up and trotted away again ... and I went way around them this time so as not to disturb them. Really fun encounter and I was really surprised at how invisible I seemed to the mother. I've never had a calf notice me first like this, with a clueless mom coming so naively close. The calf was about two months old and clearly a female as can be seen with all moose if you can see their tail. Females have a distinctive white diamond below the tail, whereas males might only have a tiny white outline or completely brown below the tail. Gorgeous day to get out on the trail.
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