I'm visiting a friend here in Fairbanks town, and she has a fenced yard. It's right behind the Noyes Slough (otters have been sighted in the Noyes Slough!) and there must be a break in the fence, because there are several piles of moose "nuggets" out there, and a willow bush that has clearly been pruned by moose teeth. My friend tells me that a mama moose slept for 24 hours right in front of her shed door.
Of course the moose might not have come from the slough, she might have just walked down the street, up the driveway and into the backyard. It's not so unusual. Remember the moose on Northern Exposure? It's really like that, even in a town of around 35,000 people. A moose can appear just about anywhere, any time.
When I first went to the music store where I now give fiddle lessons, there was a calf moose inside a fenced yard right across the street from the store. Everyone was huddled close to the door of the house, taking pictures. No one was going to approach this baby, though, even though you could have walked right up to her and petted her easily. This is the kind of stupid stuff tourists do. (Not to mention trying to pet bears.)
Mama Moose had to have been around somewhere. I think more people are hurt by moose every year than by bears, by a long shot. Those mamas are extremely protective of their babies. They will stomp the life out of you, no questions asked, and quicker than you could ever imagine.
Because stupid people let their dogs run loose, the moose will enter a yard and stomp a dog to death, too. With no provocation. They have already experienced being chased by packs of dogs, so they proactively kill dogs when they get a chance.
I few issues back I read a small blurb in Alaska Magazine (which really seems written for people outside Alaska, a tourist magazine) about a moose stomping a miniature poodle to death in a yard in Anchorage. Stepped right over the fence and smushed it.
Sofia (the husky/coyote dog) had a near-moose experience. She was on her chain outside, when we realized that there were moose in the yard. She barked like a demon at her (a huge pregnant cow) and the moose responded by going over to her area and rolling her eyes at her. Considering? Sofia ran up behind the moose and sniffed her heels. A strange look crossed Sofie's face as she realized a) this wasn't a "big dog," and b) it was the biggest animal she'd ever seen Maybe there was a c) this animal was becoming annoyed with Sofia. Whatever it was, suddenly Sofie was cringing at the far end of her chain, terrified, low to the ground, trying to make herself as small as possible. The moose was standing right by her doghouse, so the safety of the doghouse seemed void to her doggy mind.
At this point my guy ran for the .45, (to shoot in the air) and I ran for the tambourine. Yes, you heard me, the tambourine.
In my opinion he was taking too long to shoot the gun off. I'd already tried yelling and waving my arms. That had had no effect whatsoever. Mama Moose hadn't even turned her head to look at me. She'd just stood there, considering Sofia.
I whapped the tambourine with my hand with wild abandon. The moose's head snapped up! She tossed her head and dashed off into the woods.
My guy stood there with the gun in his hand. "Well, THAT worked."
So now I keep the tambourine handy. We figure it will work on bears, too. Let's just hope I don't need it.
