The Moose Hunt Continues

Friday Morning September 6, 2013
Moosehead Lake
Greenville, Maine

 

 

We’re headed back to West Shirley Bog.

 

 

 

This is our second and quite possibly our last moose hunt.  We aren’t out as early as I like.  It’s only 39 degrees at 6am.  Brrrrr! The fog is still thick when we put into the bog at 7:20.  But I’ve got my binoculars busy looking for those aquatic grass munching large herbivores.

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody here, so on we go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the next hour we paddle on as the sun burns the fog away and reveals even more of the beauty of the bog.

 

 

 

I”m looking at the beautiful colors of the grasses and their reflections when I see a great blue heron. 

 

 

I turn my binoculars over to see it and discover….. GUESS WHO!!

 

 

Wonder what is going on?   Are they having a conversation?  Then each goes her own way?  “See ya”.  “Nice talkin’ to ya”.

 

 

 

Gotta be goin’ now.

 

 

Well now THAT was SPECTACULAR!   Rank that right up there with my finest experience in nature!  Thank you Ms Moose Cow!!

 

Well there’s no topping that but I did get a couple of nice pictures of Ms. Moose’s heron friend.   I was looking at her when I noticed those ears in the water.

 

 

 

With a HUGE smile our faces, we paddle on up the bog.  We started at one end and hope we can paddle to the other.

 

 

David’s in the lead this time.

 

He comes around a bend and there in the shallows

 

 

But wait…….there are TWO

 

 

Did you know that moose have no top front teeth?  How do they chew this grass hanging out of their mouths.  They eat 40 to 60 lbs of vegetation a day.  Now that’s a lot of leaves and grass.

 

 

Lucky for us, moose can only see about 25 feet.

 

 

But they have keen hearing and sense of smell.  I’m not sure which of them was responsible for the two climbing out of the water and heading back into the woods.

An adult moose can stand over 7 feet tall from the ground to the top of his antlers and can weigh over 1600 pounds.  His antlers can weight up to 75 pounds.  Just think about wearing a hat that heavy.  Actually I doubt if you could think with a weight like that on your forehead.

 

 

So long buddy.  Thanks for the memories!!

 

 

 

We’ve been out on the bog for over 2 hours now and still haven’t come to the end so we paddle on.

 

 

But it isn’t long before we reach the end of our ability to paddle.  Too much vegetation.  We are clearly nearing the end so we turn around and head back to the beginning.

 

 

 

On our way back the wind really picks up making paddling much more difficult.

 

 

 

We’re almost back when we pass by Jon’s house.  What a view he has.  He might see moose just sitting in a lawn chair in his front yard.

 

 

To say this was a successful moose hunt would be a serious understatement.  I’ve got the bug now.  Sure wish we weren’t leaving on Sunday.  I don’t think I have time to get on the water again.
But NEXT TIME!

 

THE END!