I mentioned on another Post that I have been going through photos and reliving memories. I have some great stories of wildlife that I have posted here before. However, some of the stories were posted anywhere from 1 to 3-4 years ago. I thought I would revisit some of my favourite memories, complete with my photos.
This particular story occurred in October 2018. Clint and I were in Algonquin Provincial Park, our favourite place to be in the autumn. We love to hike and canoe but this story revolves around a hike. Algonquin Park has a lot of published trails for people to hike, we have done them all, more than once, but usually we like to head out on our own. This day we began hiking and after about 45-50 minutes we hadn’t seen anything so decided to turn back, get in our truck and try another spot.
We turned back on the trail and a few minutes later, we stopped dead in our tracks as there was a bull moose (albeit a young one) heading towards us on the trail. He didn’t look too happy and as it was rutting season we thought we would play it careful and take cover behind some trees. I got a couple of shots before we went into hiding. Clint videotaped him going slowly past us as we cowered quietly. Keeping in mind that Clint strategically placed me between himself and the moose lol. He denies it but we have video! The video is a little further down past some photos.
Video below, you may have to doubleclick on it.
Finally he went past us.
He continued on down the trail and we let him get a fair bit away and we went back on the trail to continue.
After a few minutes we could hear the moose calling and moving through the marshy area to our right. If you have never heard a moose, it’s quite something. I was ahead of Clint and he kept saying walk faster! I was walking as fast as possible without running.
Shortly afterwards, I heard my husband say “He’s running down the trail after us” I turned to look and yup sure enough, here he was running on his big gangly legs. I told Clint he was probably attracted to him! Clint said keep walking and don’t stop. The moose slowed down behind us but still following. I kept going until I got to the road and our truck and Clint was not behind me. I thought to myself that I would wait 10 minutes and if he didn’t come out, I would get a Park Ranger and we would drag Clint’s dead body out of the bush. lol Where my mind goes, you have no idea………….
Anyways a couple of minutes later my husband emerged from the trees. He said what happened was, he would stop and look back at the moose and the moose would stop and then he would continue walking and the moose would start walking again. He and the moose played this game for a bit all the while getting some nice pictures. And by that I mean, Clint got some nice pictures, not the moose. As he got closer to the road, the moose decided to wander off into the woods. Phew! What a relief. Note: I do not have photos of him running down the trail after us.
Over the years, we have spent a lot of time outdoors and I have always said I am more nervous about moose than bears. Bears, in Ontario, are fairly predictable. They see you, they run. OR they see you, they want your Pringles and you run. JUST KIDDING, never run from wildlife. That is the worse thing to do. But as I was saying, moose can be very aggressive, particularly in the fall when they are in rut. So we are always watchful.
We have had many encounters with moose, and bears, so more stories and photos to follow……..
Stay Safe
Trums Travels 