After dinner last Friday evening,  Stella was pestering so I thought I would take her for a quick little after dinner walk. It was dusky, but still light out.  I  took her for a short stroll up the driveway.  We went up the drive and down the road a short way and were cutting through the woods right behind our bedroom to go home, a really brief little evening walk.

 Suddenly Stella froze and started to growl and bark.  My first thought was that it was a squirrel or even a coyote.  Then I looked, and there they were!  A moose cow and calf, about 40’ feet away. Now to put this in perspective, the baby, the calf, was about the size of a quarter horse, and Mom was about the the size of a Clydesdale but with skinnier legs.

We live in a heavily wooded area, primarily the tall, lanky Lodgepole Pines. With snow on the ground, it is very difficult to distinguish between dark tree trunks and those black moose legs! Your eyes and your imagination can play tricks on you. Is that a moose or just a tree swaying in the wind?

Now there are a few basics about moose that you need to know:

1.  They are really big!
2.  They  (thankfully) have bad eyesight.
3.  They hate dogs!  They are pretty stupid, and their only natural predator is the wolf.  They wouldn’t know the difference between a wolf and a Corgi, let alone an Irish Setter!
4.  Momma moose are very protective of their young and VERY aggressive, even for babies who are almost as big as they are!  In fact, they are just plain mean to everyone and everything.
5.  Did I mention that they are VERY big?

So, to continue, Stella started barking, and both moose headed toward us.  Time to retreat!  Pardon my French, but I about you-know-what in my pants!  I grabbed Stella and started a retreat!  She managed to wrap her leash around a little tree!  Oh shit!  I get the leash unwrapped from around the tree.  I  didn’t even bother with the retractor on the leash, just wrapped it around my hand and headed down the slope behind the house.  The moose kept coming!  Heart rate increasing — 100, 120, 150!   I yelled for Bill, but inside the house, he couldn’t hear me!

Stella,  in a rare stroke of doggie wisdom, stopped barking and stayed as close to me as possible as we quickly headed down the slope behind the bedroom, around the garage, and to the front door.  I think she realized this was no laughing matter!  The moose finally decided that checking out things to munch on was more interesting than following us further!  Thank God!

Have to admit, I was feeling pretty trembly when we got into the house.  I saw my life  flashing before my eyes!  A few years ago a couple of women about five miles from us who were walking their dogs in the morning were attacked.  They ended up in ICU, and one died, so I have a very healthy respect for these vile creatures! 

I must have been as white as a ghost because Bill quickly asked me what was wrong.  We all three rushed into the bedroom and looked out the window.  There they were!   These photos were taken from the relative security of the bedroom window.  Guess I need to start carrying my pistol!  

Since this little episode, Stella and I both peer into the woods around us when we walk just in case our little visitors might be lurking there in the trees. As I think back on this rather frightening episode, I think that Stella’s barking definitely caused the moose to head toward us, but at the same time if she hadn’t alerted me, I could have just unwittingly triggered their wrath without warning. Oh well, such is life in the Colorado mountains. It’s pretty bad when a bear or a mountain lion seems like a less scary option!

©The Eclectic Grandma, 2019