The Best Laid Plans of Moose and Men

Heehee.  I couldn't help myself with that title!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Abby and I had great plans to train for the Blogville Olympics; we were going to focus on some discus practice and some freestyle zoomies.  But, it was not to be….   Mom took us on our morning constitutional, and then went grocery shopping.   When she returned home, she was a wee bit surprised to find this:

Whaddya lookin' at?

 Moosies (especially Momma moosies with still-nursing baby moosies) are not compatible with free-range doggies such as ourselves.  So Mom insisted we stay inside, while the moosies enjoyed a mid-morning snack.

Nom, nom.

Baby noms.

Then the moosies decided to get comfortable.  It was quite hot today, and apparently our shade was Good Shade.

Could you turn on the sprinkler please?  We're hot!

After a while, it looked like the moosies might have moved on (Mom thought maybe our barking was annoying them).

Hey, moosies!  Can we have our yard back, please?

Upon closer inspection of the property, the moosies had just gone up into the shrubbery.

 

And once they left the shrubbery, they took a leisurely stroll around the property.

 And they decided to see if there was anything interesting on the back deck.

 And then they peered in the kitchen door.  (You’ll have to pardon the reflections in this photo; Abby and I were busy defending our turf while Mom was feeding us dried lamb lung pieces in an attempt to keep us quiet while Dad snapped some pictures.) 

Hi.  Um, it's hot out here. Do you have air conditioning?

Really.  Mom and baby were At. Our. Backdoor.  I think if the door had been open, they would have walked right in!!!  After decided that we weren't going to let them in (the only room that has air conditioning is the bed room, and we didn't think there'd be enough room on the Big Dog Bed for Mom, Dad, me, Abby, AND the moosies), they settled back into the shade in an attempt to stay cool.

They were in our yard ALL DAY, so Abby and I never got a chance to get out and work on our discus skills.  Actually, around 4pm we made it clear that we couldn't cross our legs any longer, and we needed to go out, so Mom loaded us into the car and took us down to the park at the bottom of the neighborhood.  Mom didn't want to disturb the moosies - she said it was too hot to urge them to leave.

As some of our faithful readers know, this is not our first visit from moosies.  In fact, we get moosies on a fairly regular basis, and you may wonder why.  Well, we've decided that it has to do with our weather-vane.

Mom says that it is like a hobo sign for itinerant moosies; she says that it roughly translates to: "Welcome Moosies!  We have good food and good shade!  Don't mind the dogs; they make a lot of noise but are harmless."  We're not entirely sure about Mom's translation, but it must be close, with all the moosie visits we get!

Anyway, the moosies took off about dinner time, and hopefully they won't return for a few days, so Abby and I can practice for the Blogville Olympics!

*kissey face*

-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss: All of the moose pictures were taken from the safety of balconies (or behind the kitchen door) - at no point did Mom or Dad ever get close to the moosies, as they can be dangerous - particularly mothers with young calves.

Moosies!

Thanks again for all the wonderful birthday wishes! We are all full of excitement here!

Yesterday morning Abby and I woke Mom up a little before 6am so she could take us outside, and Mom was still half-asleep and wasn't really paying attention when she opened the back door....

I started barking and Abby did a U-turn and came right back inside (I followed right behind her). Why? Um....


That's right! Momma Moose with a little baby moose. Mom and Dad saw this mom and baby in the neighborhood about a month ago, but we had never expected they'd come pay us a visit.

The baby is a real youngster - definitely born just this year.

Mom was very worried that Momma Moose would take issue with us being around her baby, so Mom kept us inside - where we barked at them, and they just sort of flicked their ears at us. I guess we're not super-scary sounding! Heehee.

Momma Moose, could have been a different story, though. Last year Dad was trying to get a single female moose off the property (moose and dogs really don't mix well) and REALLY pissed her off when he threw a snowball at her - she got so mad she came around the front and was charging the front porch. Like seriously charging the front porch - if she could have figured out a way up, she probably would have. Anyway, angry moose are SCARY!

So, instead of our usual frolicking in the yard, Mom and Dad hustled us off on our walk, hoping that when we got home, Momma Moose and Baby would have moved on to greener pastures.

Well, we got back from our walk to discover they had moved - to the front yard!

And they seemed to be quite comfy....


Heehee. We scratch just like that!

And Baby Moose was pretty cute!


Dad was a little worried that Momma and Baby had decided to make this their new summer home, and tried to gently urge them to leave by turning on the sprinkler (from the safety of the porch). Let's just say that Momma Moose was not impressed. Or even remotely disturbed.

Whaddya think, Mom? Should I be worried about this flying water?

Naw. Just take a seat; this place has nommy trees, fresh grass - it's perfect.

Okay. Sounds good to me!

Momma and Baby hung around until about 2pm, when the garbage truck came by - I guess it was a little noisy for them! But now when we go out, Mom's Very Careful about checking for Momma and Baby!

See, never a dull moment here!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

Note from Mom: I like seeing moose - I think they are amazing animals, but they scare the hell out of me. They are surprisingly fast, and when you've got a mother with a very young one, I'm not certain how they are going to react, and certainly they can be deadly to humans and dogs if they feel their young are being threatened. Luckily, this one seemed to be pretty mellow; she has been around the neighborhood for most of the spring, and didn't perceive the dogs as a threat (not that I gave her a chance to get worried - I kept the girls far away from them). So it was very cool to see the moose, and the baby really was a cutie but I'd just as soon they move on to someone else's yard! If you're interested in how to co-exist with moose, check out this article (http://www.xyz.net/~khltkbr/projects/moose/coexist.html).