Moose Facts

Two fun moose facts for you: 

1. Moose have no upper front teeth. They have eight sharp incisors for cutting and molars & premolars for grinding their food. 

2. It was previously believed that moose would strip and eat the bark of aspen trees only out of desperation in winter months when food was scarce. After further research, it turns out the under layer may hold some nutritional value, as this bull is demonstrating here. 

Thankfully, the film crew was able to capture this today for their documentary assignment. Another great day on the job!

Sparring Bulls

Day 2, Crow Pass Trail with Tyler Howie. Without time for a proper breakfast, we grabbed handfuls of mixed nuts and hit the trail, trying stay ahead of the looming rainclouds that were billowing over the pass and heading our direction. After hiking all day and stopping periodically to satiate on ripe blueberries, we reached the point where we were to cross Eagle River only to be greeted by these two sparring bull moose, exactly where we needed to be. After observing and photographing them, they crossed the river and chose to hang out on the opposite bank, again right where we needed to cross. With darkness looming, they wandered off after a short while and we forded the river. While warming our feet from the ice-cold glacier water and sipping a cup of hot tea, the two bulls returned and drove us out of their turf. Still in my water shoes, we threw on our packs, grabbed everything that was scattered on the ground and hightailed it down the trail.

 

 

 

 

Spring Moose

Most mornings I hike out to the same spot on Eagle River, splash some cold glacial water on my face, look up the valley and take a few deep breaths. I like to start my day with a bit of solitude, surrounded by mountains. I must have been especially quiet today because this bull moose walked right up the trail and past me into the river. I had to back up just to fit it into my frame. He's already got 6-7" of new antler growth. During the height of summer, moose antlers can grow up to an inch per day.

Changes...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strange)
Turn and face the seasonal
Ch-ch-Changes!

If you've followed along with the photos of this moose that I've been posting recently, here is a collage of the changes that took place over the past week. Hopefully I will be able to photograph him throughout the spring and summer as he grows a new set of antlers.

The Moose Formerly Known as "Moosicorn"

Say hello the moose formerly known as " Moosicorn" (aka Arctis Unicornus). I caught up with him this evening and apparently he shed his right antler since I saw him last, which was three days ago. Fortunately, I was able to capture the stages of his antler shedding over the past week, from having a full rack to the one-antlered “unicorn” stage and finally, a complete lack of headgear. Not to fret, he will start growing a new set of antlers in a couple of months.

Unicorned Moose

Today may have been the closest I ever come to fulfilling my dream of witnessing a unicorn in the wild. This is the bull moose that I photographed last week, though he was still carrying a full rack when I previously saw him. It seemed unusual to have his antlers this late in the winter season, so I reasoned that it wouldn’t be long before they were shed. Voila - five days later, you might say he is half the man he used to be.

February Bull Moose

This is the first moose I’ve seen near the Nature Center since last October; they aren’t as prevalent in this part of the valley during the winter months. I'm pretty certain this was one of the bulls I photographed out here last year. I imagine he will shed his antlers in the near future, only to be replaced by a new set in the spring.

Editing

I've been catching up on some long overdue editing recently, perusing thousands of images from the past year and narrowing down the list of keepers. It's always fun to look back on your experiences and recall what was going through your mind or what you were feeling at that moment. A picture may be worth a thousand words but when you have a personal connection to an image, it holds memories and emotions as well.

Here are two photos I came across from this past fall. The bear was taken at the Nature Center in October and the bull moose was in Denali National Park in September. Thank you all for continuing to follow along and share my page, which just passed 1,600 likes today (unsponsored) - not bad for being launched less than a year ago! As always, I'll do my best to keep exploring and sharing.

Cheers,

Colin