The Moose are Loose!

I’ve seen 6 moose in the last 2 days. I’m sure if I went out moose-spotting again tonight I’d see more. They seem to be everywhere. Mary and I went moose-spotting last night around 7:30. We headed toward Rt. 2 in Jefferson via some lonely dirt road that intersected with the road to Jefferson Notch. We saved that treacherous (but beautiful) stretch of road for a bit later in the spring. For now we were headed in the direction of Gorham on the Valley Rd. in Jefferson along the Israel’s River. No moose. When we reached Rt. 2 we headed west, and then took a left on 115, heading for home. It was dark now, but we were still on the lookout for moose, this time hoping we didn’t find one in the middle of the road. We crept along at about 40 mph and suddenly — about a mile from where we turned — we saw a dark shadow against the woods to our left. There he (she?) was, nibbling away at the salty grass on the opposite side of the road. I made a u-turn and pulled up beside the gnarly creature. It was a yearling — just separated from its mother most likely. It’s that time of year where the year-old calves separate from their mothers before the spring birthing season. We sat for a while watching with the lights from the car illuminating the little (ok, it’s still a moose —  he’s not *that* little) guy. Then Mary opened her window and started talking and his ears came to life  — flicking and bending on every word for about 5 minutes; he then obviously got bored with the conversation and began to walk south along the highway. I guess this was our signal to head home. We were annoying him most likely, but we did get to see our moose.

I’ve seen 5 others. At 5:30 am, on my way to work, I saw a bull moose — antlerless at this time of year — in the field near our house. Then as I was headed along Rt. 3 toward Franconia Notch I saw a mother and yearling feeding along the side of the road. I rarely stop because I always feel as though I’m annoying them. That was 4 moose in one day.

This morning as I drove toward the Upper Falls of the Ammonoosuc River for a short hike I saw another mother and calf standing in a swampy area just off the road. They looked up as I slowed but continued to do what moose do at 6am which is to just stand still doing very little as they wait for tourists to stop and take pictures. The waters are running wild and high right now as the snows are rapidly melting off the Presidentials. It’s a great time to take in the rapids and gorges in the area. The roar of the water is amazing, but the trails are still a quagmire with lingering patches of ice to make walking just a bit more interesting.
Did I mention I saw a fisher cat too?

— Steve