Maligne Lake Moose

The human body doesn't seem to be as suited for cold like other animals. Even less suited as you get older, i.e. kids love the snow! Grandparents move to Arizona. I remember taking our daughter Ashley on a photo trip to Alberta many years ago. We drove up to Maligne Lake where we saw a moose eating what she could find along the lake's edge. I thought it would be nice to get a photo of Ashley standing next to the moose. (I would not do this today, so I don't recommend this behavior). I kept asking Ashley to move back a couple of steps. Her steps at this point were about two inches at most. Finally, I got her where I wanted and said one, two, three and snapped the photo just as she put her stretched out hands on top of her head like antlers. I thought how cute. Of course, the first thing she did when we got home four or five days later was run to mommy saying, "Mommy, mommy, daddy made me stand too close to a moose and I was scared..." I tossed the photo so as to not encourage that sort of thing. On a subsequent trip up to Maligne Lake, I passed an open field about the size of a football field. There were trees lining the road so it was not easily to spot this odd brown "spot" in the middle of this otherwise white field of snow. I pulled off to the side of the road, and walked about a half mile until I was about 30 feet away from this moose cow. I then sat down in the snow and started taking photos. Then just sat admiring her. (It helped that I had on long-johns and was adequately protected from the cold). It was so peaceful and serene. She never moved; occasionally put her nose in the snow; but, we both seemed content and happy surrounded by mother nature's beauty. Moose may be gangly looking, but their coats are truly a beautiful dark chocolate brown as gorgeous as mink.