Moose Mysteries and Coyote Conundrums

We’re puzzling over signs in the yard. At lunch yesterday we realized that a path in front of the house is littered with fresh moose nuggets. What has us scratching our heads is that Michelle had used that path in the morning, and hadn’t noticed anything there. True, she’d been carrying a quilt, which may have limited her view, but on the other hand, everything’s slick with frost, and the ground’s uneven all around the cabin,  so we tend to watch our footing, always.

When we investigated, we found that the droppings were fresh enough to stick to the soles of our boots, and crush when being stepped on. Since none of them had been crushed before we tried that, it indicates that a moose may have been in the yard that morning!

We found that alarming, since we’d been going in and out of the cabin all day, and when inside, at least one of us was working at the table, with the path in our view through the window.

Another odd thing is that the moose didn’t seem to browse on any of the yard plants while it was here.

It’d be easier to figure out what happened when if we had any snow, but the recent thaw melted it all away. That’s kept us from tracking this particular moose’s movements. We looked carefully at the yard for tracks in the turf, but saw nothing conclusive.

The lack of snow is also making it difficult to keep tabs on the coyote(s) that have been all over the peninsula lately, including through our yard. The coyotes are more welcome than the moose, as they eat voles, while the moose might eat our cherry trees again. But, they’re both wild animals, of a size, habit, and disposition that makes us feel more comfortable if we at least know they’re there before we step outside!

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