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[RC] Moose and more! - heidi sowardsMOOSE! They are herbivores with an attitude Howard!!! I grew up in a fishing resort in British Columbia and we had tons of bears, moose and cougars. (Some deer, bobcat, fishers, etc.) Since we had a fishing resort, we had major bears, they would break into the fish house and take the customers fish. Would get VERY brave, walking right through camp in the middle of the day. Usually if and when it got to this point my dad would have to take one out. We had a dog who regularily treed them, but occasionally you'd get a rogue boar (male) who wouldn't take the hint, my dad would fire a few warning shots, but some just liked the easy meals. Here's a good bear story (I have about 50 - I could write a book!) remember we're talking good sized black bears here. My mom is home alone with my sister (dad and I went 75 miles to the nearest town with a big groc. store) and the generator is off for most of the day, so very, very quiet there! We had a collie that was our bear dog. My mom kept hearing the dog barking and this loud snapping/popping noise. When my dad and I returned she told us about the dog going berserk, racing down to the fishouse (about 300 yards away) and then hearing this strange noise. She was busy so never checked it out, but figured the way the dog was acting it was a bear and she's petrified of them. My dad walked down to the lake/fishouse with the dog, who was ready to show my dad what was going on, (all you had to do with this dog was ask him if there were any bears, he knew the word.) Anyway, long story, but this sow bear had 2 cubs and was nosing around, the dog would go after her, she'd charge him and snap her teeth trying to bite him. That was the noise my mom kept hearing, from over 300 yards away, the snapping of her teeth. Unfortunately, the sow would not be discouraged to leave the easy life, was getting brave enough to charge people and had to be shot. The cubs were about 2, so ready to be on their own anyway, but my dad always hated having to do that. Cougar rarely ever came around, too noisy I'm sure. Cow moose swam her calf across the lake with him on her back one time. About a mile she swam him. Saw an eagle take a loon off the lake, pretty cool! And don't leave anything in your camper that smells like food in bear country. We had a black bear tear the vent off the roof of a really nice camper to get 2 t-bone steaks that were thawing on the counter. We had wolves too, never saw one and only occasionally saw the remains of a moose, deer or range cow that they had been feeding on. Sometimes they'd killed it, sometimes there were other reasons it was dead. We had an old QH that ran loose (she was 29 and looked 40) and we never had a problem with predators with her. My dad found her dead off the side of the road one summer, no visible cause, he figured she just layed down and died. My sister and I ran loose from the time I was 3 until I was 18 every spring/summer and fall there and my mom always told us, you see a bear, you walk, don't run back to camp, see a moose and you get home quick! I'm sure we made so much noise they stayed as far away as possible. We never saw a wolf! I am blessed to have had such a lifestyle! heidi sowards --- Howard Bramhall <howard9732@xxxxxxx> wrote: Can anyone tell me if the Moose falls into the predator or prey category? Or, are they in a category all of their own? I always thought they were prey, like the deer. What do they eat? Aren't they vegetarians? I never realized they were something to fear like the cougar or the bear. Don't see many mooses down here in Florida. One moose, two meese, three moose, four Will they kill me if I snore? If I live will they come back for more? One moose, two meese, three moose, four cya, Howard (always thought Bullwinkle was cool)From: Marv Walker <Marv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [RC] Moose Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 10:26:06 -0700What to do when you scare up a moose? Thanks As someone posted earlier , a moose can be way moredangerous than eitherbear or cats . We have had a bull moose break intocorrals to go after ourhorses in hunting camps , they do wreck havoc on apackstring :-) The bestthing you can do especially during calving and the rutis to get as faraway as fast as you can as a moose is so unpredictable. Never try tochase them off of a trail , if you run into them onfoot find a tree toget behind as they attack with their front feetstriking . I have seenthem take on cars before when people tried to hide incars or thought theycould get close in a vehicle to watch them . I havebeen chased more thanonce by them as we live in prime moose country .This cannot be stressed enough. Moose are one of the top dangers of the Iditarod race. Considering the race is run during the worst weather under the most demanding conditions. I once saw a video of a cow moose killing a man. It was so unexpected and so quick it gave rattlesnakes something to shoot for. Marv "Bullwinkle is an urban legend with a smattering of truth and that is, some squirrels do fly!" Walker 2004 Appearances: http://MarvWalker.com/2004.htm _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar ? get it now! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ============================================================ There are 2 ways to win at this sport. You take a horse and race him for a short time and then find a new horse or you can take one horse , do the homework and spend many miles and years enjoying that horse. ~ Paddi Sprecher ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================ ===== Heidi-aerc#M20935 /\_/\~ http://www.synjinarts.com ~~/~~ \\~~~~ (Wildlife/Western & Equine / O> ) \~~~~~ Art) / __/ \~~~~~~ (_@_/ | \~~~~ | \~~~~~~ | \~~~~ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online by April 15th http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html ============================================================ The very essence of our sport is doing the trail as quickly as practicable, while keeping one's horse fit to continue. Taking the clock out of the equation makes it another sport altogether. The challenge is how to keep the sport what it is while honing our skills (both as riders and as those in control roles) in detecting where "the edge" is for each horse so that we don't cross it. ~ Heidi Smith ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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