I’ve complained before about our local wildlife’s reluctance to perform on cue for homestead visitors (see Visitors Have Arrived: Cue the Whales). It happened again over the weekend.
“Hmm, what to do now? Maybe chow down on a cherry sapling?” Our uninvited visitor considers her next move (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
This instance wasn’t such a big deal; local friends came out to see the homestead for the first time on Saturday. Although they live in town, they’re as—or more—”outdoorsy” than we are, so they have likely seen more local wildlife in their years here than we have. Still, while we saw a seal, and a few sea lions, and some loons and ducks, we hoped something big might happen by.
Something big happened by the next morning: a moose. While we ate breakfast, a young cow moose wandered through the dooryard, and, as if to taunt us, stepped out to the edge of the yard, next to the veranda (the same place we shared lunch with our friends, watching for wildlife the while) where she seemed to stop and admire the view.
“Hey! Hey, uninvited guest—are you enjoying the view?” (Photo: Sarah A. Zeiger.)
She then turned her attention to her task at hand, which appeared to be eating one of our smaller cherry trees. That’s when we put down the cameras and went out to chase her off!
As always, this encounter proved exciting, though not as exciting as some (see Charged by a Moose). I suppose it was too much to ask for her to show up yesterday, when she would have had an even more appreciative audience?