I catch trespassers in action with my pocket camera

I guess the near all-nighter that I put in from Friday through Saturday morning caught up with me today, because I did not get up until about 10:30 AM. Oh, well, I figured, I tend to do so much of my work late at night or in the wee hours that what does it matter if I sleep late?

So I ate oatmeal, took my walk, but got so lazy that I did not climb the hill, but instead turned away from it and cut through the marsh straight toward my house. There, maybe 300 yards from my back yard, I spotted a cow moose. As you can see, she was trespassing. I reckoned she probably had a calf nearby, so I approached slowly, cautiously; I did not want to get between a cow and her calf. 

Aha! What did I tell you? A calf stands beside her! In fact, it looks like two calves.

It is two calves. Look closely and you will see. Now I am faced with a dilemma. I must make a decision, but there are three things that I do not want to do, in this order: I do not want to get stomped on by a Momma moose, acting under the misguided belief that she must kill me to save her calves. I do not want to have to turn around and go home the way I came. I do not want to disturb the moose and calves too much.

Usually, when you walk toward a cow and her calves, at some point she will simply lead them to another place, away from you. But, a few times, I have a had that momma come stamping towards me, her head low, the hair on the nape of her neck bristling, nostrils flaring, a gleam of fire coming from her eyes that told me she was quite willing to kill me to protect her own.

Still, I believed they would turn and move away if I approached, so I walked slowly toward them. They did turn and move away.

The momma and her calves, out in the middle of the marsh.

Moving through the marsh.

They come back to the trail. "Okay, kids, look both ways before crossing."

They cross and disappear into the brush on the other side.

The cow and one calf reappear and move down the trail in front of me. I wonder where the other calf is?

This was one of those times when I kind of wished that I had my big Canon 1Ds M III and my 100-400 mm lens with me, instead of the pocket camera. But what I like about the pocket camera is that I can carry it in my pocket. After one shatters his camera shoulder, even when he reaches the point where the shoulder is well on the mend, he appreciates being able to carry his camera in his pocket.

He doesn't want to carry a big camera, and a big lens.

At least, I don't. Not yet.

There will be more moose in the future, and other times when I can stalk them with the big camera and the big lens - unless I decide never to shoot a big camera again. I have thought about it. But no, I don't think so. Nice as it is, this G9 pocket camera just has too many limitations, and I've got some serious work to do.

I return to this house and spend the rest of the day sitting where I sit right now, in my office, right here in front of my computer, except that at 5:00 PM I take a break to drive my wife to work, and take this picture along the way. Any readers who live in warm places might be appalled at this picture; you might think the cars in front of me have bad rings, are burning oil and are severe polluters.

No, this is just what cool air does to exhaust.

Comments

[Suzy =^..^=]

I am facing the same dilemma this morning, except the three moose are outside my front door! Well, outside my arctic entry, eating on my lilacs and left over hanging baskets. Momma is most agitated at my dogs barking at her babies. I guess I will be driving the kiddos to the bus today.

[Wasilla, Alaska, by 300]

I hope the dogs all made it safely and happily through the day and that the kiddos did not have to suffer any unjust testing at school today.