Moose

I tilled up another field last night to plant the 5th planting of sweet corn. This field is across the road from me, behind 3 houses. When I came back with the tractor and planter I see a moose running thru my fields...I've seen tracks before, but never the moose. This one looked young, maybe 2 years old. He jumped the barbwire fence and stood next to some Christmas trees and watched me plant the corn. This morning I see another set of tracks going thru the field...hope he learns not to trample the corn and onions if he plans on hanging around.

I've had too many close calls with moose.

I had heard there were caribou and mooses (meese?) up in the very northeast corner of Washington, but didn't know they were getting as far south as you.

There were never any moose in our part of ND when I was a kid. They started coming into the area about 25 years ago after all the shelterbelts got big enough to hide them. Nephew filled his license right across the road from the farm a few years ago. Don't care much for the meat though.

I have seen moose on my property SE of Spokane occasionally, though they are not common. There are elk around, but I have not seen any on the property. Whitetail deer are around all the time, and are real pests if you are trying to grow anything.

Lots of deer get hit by vehicles around here. Almost every family has hit at least one. You HAVE to drive slowly from an hour before dusk to an hour after dawn, or it is very likely you will hit a deer. Even so, I have had many close calls. But a few years ago, my wife hit a large buck that did almost $7k damage to our almost new car.

I had a very close call with a bull elk one fall at about noon. Luckily I saw him coming and came to a full stop, or I am pretty sure we would have collided. He was big enough that I think a collision at highway speed would have totaled the car and maybe hurt me too.

Colliding with a moose is usually very bad for the vehicle and its contents. There was one hit and killed about a mile from my house a few years ago. I didn"t ever hear what hit it, but there was a lot of broken glass and plastic at the location. The dead moose lay there in the hot summer sun for several days until whoever picks such dead animals up finally got around to removing it. Stunk there for the rest of the summer!

The moose I have seen on my property have been traveling fairly fast and didn"t seem to have any respect for fences. It has been surprising to see an animal that big jump a regular fence. I have thought that the moose were heading for wetter ground than the area where I live. I sure don"t have any good ideas, at least legal ideas about how to keep them away from crops. Good luck Eldon!

Was there a flying squirrel anywhere nearby?
Is your home 20 near frostbite falls?
Moose and squirrel

Hitting a moose or horse is usually bad news for all the vehicle occupants.
The bulk of the animal is above the bumper and hood. The moose goes through the windshield and either crushes the occupants or kicks and flails them to death.
Every few years an old bull moose is found standing in a pasture field of cattle or horses in Southern Ontario. They usually don't wander very far south of Muskoka, Halliburton or Algonquin Park.

Well, thanks a heap for posting that link, Dave- there's a half hour I'll never get back! LOL

Rocky and Bullwinkle were a staple of my youth- fun to reminisce.