Moose Hide

Okay, now that’s just rude . . . .

Monday morning, just days after the Tier II Subsistence Moose Hunt closed early, we had another moose in the yard. True, she wasn’t legal prey, but it indicates that she, and possibly other cows remained on our peninsula. And, during the rut, the boys go where the girls are (see Maybe I’m Not Wasting My Time After All).

Say "cheese," and stay the heck away from the lilac! (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger)

Say “cheese,” and stay the heck away from the lilac! (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger)

She wandered into view from the dining table, and began munching on the birch suckers in the yard. I don’t mind her browsing the birch, so I took the time to snap a few photos before chasing her away. I wish I’d gotten a shot when she saw me in the window. She rested her cheek against the birch tree to watch me, and it was pretty cute.

When she moved to our lilac, the photo shoot ended. We yelled from inside, and that proved enough to start her off the property. I stepped out and made sure she continued off the property. She went pretty quickly, but she did pause to look the garden over for a moment before leaving.

We measured later against the tree, and saw that this moose stood over 5 feet high at the rear haunch. And yet, you see from the photos how she can hide remarkably well for being such a large animal. Imagine scanning the forest for moose doing this same thing, and you begin to see how hard they can be to find sometimes.

Trying to blend in (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

Trying to blend in (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

Michelle took a stack of old CDs I’d been saving out to the garden and strung them as reflectors along the low section of garden fence. Hopefully, that’ll discourage further investigation in the future.

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Preparing for the Best

I sometimes wonder where, exactly, we fit in the category of self reliance. We don’t seem to fit the neat niches chosen by or imposed on people who live as we do: “prepper,” “survivalist,” “end-timer,” “isolationist.” As I wrote long ago, we didn’t choose this life for any particular ideological reason, by and large—we didn’t do it for religious or political reasons. We didn’t flee society ahead of a looming disaster. I’ve never seen our lifestyle as preparing for the worst. We are preparing for the best—working toward living the life we want to live, the life that’s best for us.

Which is not to say we don’t fit some, or even many of the qualities in each of these outlooks.

I guess it's all in one's point of view... (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

I guess it’s all in one’s point of view… (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

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