Moose Encounters

Mouse Encounter yesterday morning

I do a lot of hiking, walking and praying on various trails in the Spokane area.  This past  Saturday morning,  I encountered two moose about 5 miles apart.  So I think it is time to document all my moose encounters.  These cute “little” animals are almost twice the height of my car!

Here are my six moose encounters:

1.  When Olive Tree was in my home, (about 5 years ago) those working in the basement saw a mommy and baby moose in the back yard.  I tried to take a picture but it was too dark and my old camera was just not doing well.

2.  When I was hiking a 7 mile loop around a mountain,  a moose came between me and the trail back to the parking lot.  I was 20 feet from the moose and he was as startled as I was, but he did not charge.  I had to choose between walking back the other way (about 6 miles) or hoping the moose would vamoose.  After 3 frantic phone calls (including a wrong number to the park ranger), the moose wandered up the hill — a big sigh of relief!

3.  Once,  upon returning from a hike at dusk, I heard noises in the brush near my car.  I looked up and discovered I was 10 feet from a large moose.  Fortunately there was a fence separating me from the moose, so I did not have to test my tree-climbing abilities.

4.  While enjoying a hike with my grandchildren near the Little Spokane River, a moose was observed in the river.  We were about 40 feet from that impressive animal.

5 and 6. This Saturday morning I saw two moose that had just crossed the road in front of my car.  Both times I tried to quickly stop and grab my camera, but the moose kept moving. The picture above is the first moose I tried to photograph as he was quickly moving away.