First Moose Sighting--October 11,2006

Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. It was taken through our front living room windows at about 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday. It was the only shot left in my camera so I don't have a better one to show you. Buster was going crazy barking out the windows. I was in the kitchen getting D.D.'s lunch together when she went to check out what he was barking at. She shrieked in sheer delight "It's a moose, mom! A moose!!" To give you an idea of how big this moose was, the green bush behind it's head stands about 8 or 9 feet tall at its highest point. This was quite a big moose! We judged it as "taller than dad/Shaun" at its back. Of course we know nothing about the sizes of moose...so anything would have been impressive to us. Anyway, the moose sauntered right into our yard, went down the side hill, stopped to nibble on one of our bushes, then crossed the street to our good friends' home, and had a snack on their bushes before heading out of sight. It was all very exciting. We had been warned that as winter drew near, we would start seeing moose in our yard. They apparently come out of the mountains (where snow has already fallen) and feast all winter on the lower vegetation that has been growing all summer. Shrubs in berries left on them are supposedly a favorite as well as apple trees and so on. Dharma got on the phone and called Grama and Papa with her news but she was very dramatic in her presentation. She said "First, when we moved here, my class went to the Alaska Zoo and I saw a moose there. Then when we were driving here, I saw caribou in the mountains. Lots of caribou. But now....now I have seen a moose in my own yard!" She thought this was fantastic.