This moose has been hanging out at the Essen Wildlife Refuge for at least three days. Last night, I took our dog, Nellie, outside for a final pee before going to bed. While she did that, I went into the garage to look for some gloves for my wife. I was in the garage for several minutes—not finding the gloves that weren’t where they were supposed to be. That’s when Nellie started her danger-danger bark (as opposed to her squirrel bark).
I hurried out of the garage to find Nellie in the driveway, hair on her back raised, retreating a little after each bark. Since we live in a forest, everything was pitch black. I shined my flashlight in the direction Nellie was looking but didn’t see anything—at first. Then I caught a glimpse of eyeshine.
I rushed Nellie inside, grabbed a better flashlight, and went back outside. Now I could see him. It was our bull moose at the edge of our gravel driveway—just thirty feet away—going to town on our tall serviceberry bushes.
We have moose at the Essen Wildlife Refuge every year, but last night I learned two things:
1. Moose are active feeders at night.
2. Moose (at least this one) seem to be bolder at night. When I photographed him three days ago, he was cautious, and his body language told me he’d back off if I got too close. Last night, he didn’t give a shit whether Nellie was barking bloody-murder thirty feet away or if I stood in the driveway illuminating him with a powerful flashlight. He just continued stripping the serviceberry bushes as if we weren’t there.