A moose on the loose in the North Woods

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Living in the North Woods offers many opportunities for pleasant outdoor recreation, but sometimes things can get a bit testy. This was one such occurrence.

My wife, Linda, and I were out for a walk along interstate highway route 26, and I should mention here that route 26 can not be compared with route 495 in Massachusetts, but it is a 2-lane highway. We were not far from our house when we heard the most God-awful bellowing and crashing in the trees beside the highway.

We both knew what it was, and I immediately looked for a way out of the impending disaster. I was carrying my Colt .45 ACP pistol but that would be a last resort - and might not stop the animal right away anyway.

Then she appeared, and she was pissed. It was a cow moose and the ears were back, and the hackles along the neck and back were up - and she was coming for us. I can only think after the fact that she had a calf nearby and felt we were a threat.


I kept facing her as we backed away, and I kept talking in as calm-a-voice as I could muster to reassure her that we meant no harm. It worked. She stopped but kept the ears back and the hackles up. We continued our walk and were very tentative on our walk back by the same spot.



I have had many encounters with moose in the North Woods, but this was the most frightening. A humorous encounter with a bull moose in rut will follow in the next article.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC, NNELTFC.blogspot.com, northwoodssaunterer.blogspot.com and Facebook

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