Moose Wallow

Earlier today, this fellow was nibbling one of the willow trees near the driveway to our field, across the street.  He is a young bull, probably only 4.5’ tall at the shoulder.

In the early evening, I noticed he made a wallow in the snow near the pen where the laying hens spend the summer.  The pen door is on the far right side of the picture.  The gate to the left of the moose is the entrance to the garden area.  Right now, the electric fence wires are down so the gate looks a bit silly standing there by itself.

Moose like to lie down and sleep in the field in the winter, but they usually move farther from the road.  This one was only about 75’ inside the lot.  The picture is a bit grainy because I was standing at the end of my driveway, across the street, and had to zoom in as far as possible.  I know better than to walk closer to improve the picture.

His pose makes for an odd perspective.  He is lying on his right side with the top of his back end to the camera.  His legs are curled up to his chest and not visible in the picture.  If you follow along his back you get to a triangular part sticking out to the right.  That part is his shoulder hump.  On the far side of his hump, his neck curves so he faces left.  His head looks disproportionately large because much of his body is hidden int he snow.  Also, because he is a moose.

This winter, we haven’t had too many moose in the yard.  Perhaps it is because it has been such a warm winter.  Their food probably isn’t so inaccessibly frozen into the snow.  Maybe they can find enough food in the woods and don’t have to venture so close to houses in their search.

With luck, he’ll be on his way long before we have to start working in the field to prepare for the growing season.  Moose usually ignore our garden until it is harvest time.