It started out as any hike to White Pine Lake, but there was something in the air that felt a little different. I thought maybe it was the change of season starting to happen, but as I looked around the forest, I didn’t see any yellow aspen leaves and some of the flowers are still blooming so it couldn’t be that. I kept climbing up the trail and then I heard it! It started off soft like a little moan coming from a thicket of trees in the forest. It happened again, only this time it was a little louder. I stopped, listened carefully for another moan,
A very charming cow moose.
and began to smell the air for an unpleasant odor. Finally I saw where the noise was coming from and remembered that it’s the season of love for the moose. I was a little surprised to see them paired off already. Normally this would start to happen toward the middle of September.
Typically during the rut, the sighting of a bull comes with some extremely powerful odor. To attract a female, the bull will dig a shallow pit, urinate in the pit and then roll in it covering himself in urine. THERE HAS GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY! Today, I didn’t smell anything. Both seemed very calm and content as they stood in the brush striping leaves from the shorter aspen trees.
There was something very special about these two. The couple looked very happy
A bull with a very big grin on his face!
together. The bull even had a big grin on his face, and I have the picture to prove it! The cow was very large and beautiful. It’s easy to see why he chose her! I’m sure we will be seeing more of this activity over the next few weeks!
Adventures of a Photographer 