Moose Trimming our Trees

[NorthernFocus]

In Alaska, moose lose up to one third of their body weight during the winter. They eat twigs off of low tree branches with little nutritional value and when that runs short they gnaw the bark. This cow and her grown calf have been hanging around our house the past couple of days. I came back from walking the dog and she was right beside the driveway so I stepped inside and grabbed a camera.

Nikon D7100, Nikon 70-200mm f4 VR (I love this lens)

[jamn4ex]

I really like this series, maybe 3 slightly more than the others. I am envious of both your abilities and you opportunities.

[Brownbear]

Amazingly beautiful and inspiring to see images like this. Thank you for sharing.

Truly special.

[Mike Buckley]

Let me guess: you use snow shoes to walk the dog.

Nope, bad guess. You use cross-country skies and let the dog pull you.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I am SUCH a sucker for wildlife in snow shots. Very nice. I wish I lived in a place like you do. Beauty!

[Bobobird]

She does look lovely in #3.

They were hanging about your house because..... ??

[IzzieK]

Dan beautiful series! I love #3 very much and 4 is not such a bad thing to photograph sitting down either...Lovely!

[Downrigger]

Great, just great - I'm an envious green. These are very appealing and intimate views. Our moose have been elusive thus far this winter except for the bull I posted a while back but I hope to get some more, better opportunities like this. Here too, I trek all over hoping to turn one up and next thing you know there's one in the back yard. A photographer and pup need to give these some pretty wide berth by the way - they can do a lot of damage if threatened.

[Nancy Moran G]

#3 is beautiful. Thanks for the story.
Nancy

[Shadowman]

Nice images, I'm surprised they like to spend so much time near people.

[NorthernFocus]

Glad you folks enjoyed the moose. Ironically there are more moose around Anchorage than in many rural areas in Alaska. Discharge of firearms in the city limits is frowned upon plus the town is bordered by a huge state park where there is no hunting. In winter when the snow gets deep and food is scarce, they burn less energy walking on plowed roadways and most trees and bushes that people like to have in their yards are edible to moose. In spring the cow moose come down out of the mountains to get away from the bears and have their calves in suburban backyards. We get a lot in our neighborhood because we are on the border with the park. There is a vacant lot adjacent to our house with no fences to negotiate, plenty of browse, and provides a quiet place to lay down. This time of year they typically visit every couple of weeks and hang around for a day or two then move on.

[deetheturk]

Another great set of images Dan,well done!