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Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Moose in the dark



My lovely wife and I had a near miss with a moose on the way home. It was dark and suddenly there was a moose at top of a large snowbank. Holy crap! I stood on the brakes. Fortunately the moose had slowed down as I might have still hit it if the moose had kept up its pace. That gets the heart pumping better than a triple shot espresso. 


It’s been months since I saw moose on the side of the road. That was no reason to relax. It was about three miles from where I once hit a moose with a van. My daughter had hit one less than half a mile from today’s encounter. 


In that very spot I once almost hit a large bull moose while riding a motorcycle. The motorcycle stopped less than twenty feet from the side of the moose. It slowly turned its head my way, snorted, and then let go a huge stream of urine. It was a weird encounter. 


This is the time of the year when they are down from the high country and are on the move. Good thing I’m in the habit of slowing down at night. There are too many critters running around after dark. Heck, it’s warming up enough for the bears to start coming out. After a winter’s hibernation they are on the prowl for something to eat. I’ve never collided with a bear and have no desire to do so. 


Looks like my slow night rides home are going to be even slower for a while.


-Sixbears


10 comments:

  1. I've had a couple close encounters myself. When it's dark and the horned beastie is dark, and the eyesight isn't what it used to be, it's pertinent to tippy toe around the roads till the moose go further inwards. I'm preparing for the yearly bear visits in the yard. Another thing I've learned to tippy toe around this time of year, my own back yard.

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    1. Unlike deer, moose eyes do not reflect headlights -just to make it more interesting out there.

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    2. Ya know those whistling things we can attach to bumpers, yeah... they don't work.

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    3. Hope you didn't find out the hard way.

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  2. Deer eyes might reflect but I nearly ran up the backside of 6 Sambar deer in the middle of the road recently. Deer butts do not reflect! They weren't even spooked by the car. Then our dog finally saw them and barked - they took off pretty quick then.
    Q. If you do hit a bear, does that make it '7 bears in the woods'?

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    1. It would be 7 bears -and that's got to be too many.

      Deer butts. That's funny and true. Glad you didn't hit them..

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    2. Mato Sakpe "Six Bears" rolls of the tongne much better.

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  3. Oops - above comment was me, not anon. Every time from dusk to dawn is critter time around here. Last week I avoided no less than 6 kangaroos, 2 wombats, 3 foxes and 2 possums on a 25 min dusk trip. You can keep the bears...

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    1. I can see we have a different set of critters to contend with. Out Texas way there are also armadillos. Those little buggers will knock a vehicle right off the road.

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    2. Flocks of wild turkeys are fun too. Almost totaled my cousin's jeep when one shattered his windshield.

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