Meese put me in mind of enormous domesticated rabbits. For the most part, you leave them alone, and they leave you alone. But they have a terrible temper, so do not anger them! The thing that makes them more dangerous than rabbits is of course their size. A bull moose is 380–535 kg (850–1180 pounds), and a femoose 270–360 kg (600–800 pounds). Imagine if Bunn were that size! Stamp, hrrmph, charging, growling, etc. Yes, that's why meese are considered the most dangerous wild animal in Alaska.
There is a video floating around that is shown in wilderness training classes, to demonstrate the power of the moose. In it, a full-size grizzly bear goes after a pair of twin calves. Poor mama moose can only defend one, so the bear takes the other. But then the bear gets greedy and comes back for the other calf, and mama moose tramples him to death.
The two most dangerous moose types are a mother with a calf or calves, and a bull moose during the rut (Septemberish). The rest of the time, you can mostly ignore meese, but when you see one, you can't help but be intimidated. I see their tracks around our neighborhood, and I see them wandering around, mostly in glimpses--a rump end as one disappears into the brush, or a big brown face staring out from the trees. They have big, gentle eyes, like horses' eyes, and they wear blank expressions. Today, we saw a pair of femeese (or maybe it was a mama and her nearly-grown calf) galumphing across someone's back yard.
The first moose I ever saw up close was this girl:
I watched her from the windows, then cowered inside for a few minutes after she left, before I dared leave the house that first morning!
She came regularly after that, sauntering up and down the power pole trail behind our cabin, stripping the leaves off the trees and helping herself to our vegetable garden. I haven't seen her in a while and wonder where she is now. I hope she hasn't been eaten.
Okay, that's the Moose Report!
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