Winter Wildlife Photos: Moose

Winter is approaching. And with it comes opportunity for interesting if not fascinating wildlife photography.

Continuing the series on "Winter Wildlife" Photos: Moose

I was driving up a snow covered dirt road in British Columbia when I saw a brown spot in the middle of what was probably 10 acres of snow. I only got a glimpse because in was through trees that lined the road. I wasn't really in a hurry, so stopped and walked between the trees into the open space. Then it was clear, a beautiful female Moose. I slowly walked closer being careful not to scare her. She let me get about 30 feet away at which point I sat down in the snow. (I was wearing jeans over some long johns, so I didn't notice the minus 7 degree temperature). I sat with here for a good 30 minutes. She would occasionally dip her nose into the snow, but otherwise sat still. It was a wonderful experience and now fond memory.  Here is one of my photos:

This next photo was taken near Maligne Lake in Alberta. Mom and her "teenage" son marching through the forest:

On to Jackson County, Colorado and one of the highest concentration of Moose in the lower 48 states. Driving up one of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, I came across a Bull Moose in a meadow below. I had to drive a couple hundred yards to a spot where I could park. Slowly I made my way to about 75 feet and watched as this Bull Moose ate the oakbrush. Interestingly, as I turned to head back to my Jeep I saw an American Marten making its way through the snow. ( I'll save that photo for my next post).

Lastly, driving in Alberta I saw (from quite a long distance) what looked like a brown "speck" in a large patch of snow in the forest. I got out and started trudging through the snow toward what I then realized was a Bull Moose.  The snow was quite deep and there was no trail, so it was essentially "bush-whacking." Progress was slow and after a while the Moose seemed to be moving away. So I took one last photo and left the area: