Mooseday

Every day seems to be a moose day here at the Lovestead lately. This morning's sighting has already occurred in the woods just off the fenceline and not far from the house. We speculate this big gal is Gary Finney's moose from across the road, which I'm sure could get easily confused as one of his Percherons.

Kiwi cued in to today's visitor just as I headed out to the barn. Usually, when Kiwi barks, it's at nothing, but she was dead on this morning. The cow stood relaxed next to the fence almost as if she were in slumber. Of course, the Kiwi's incessant and irritating bark could ruin anyone's sleep, so she turned around and looked Kiwi's way as if to complain, "Knock it off; I'm trying to sleep."

We had plenty of time for the binoculars to come out and to speculate if she was the one with the calf. No calf ever came, and eventually she trotted across the fields toward the Ponderosa pasture. Last time I saw her, she was headed north toward Meserve's field. Apparently, she's not the same hot mama who stood in the middle of the road near our yard with her calf this past Saturday morning as Bill went out to get the paper.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this single lady twice in the last week, making her way across Taylor's field toward Gary's woods. One day she stood just behind our mailbox but inside the field across the road. That day I knew she was there because of Rambo, Casey and Lily.

Horses get particularly pretty when moose mosey on by. Heads go in the air as do tails, and the equine ballet begins. I doubt a choreographer could do any better than their spontaneous prancing routines around the barnyard, punctuated by loud, whooshy snorts emanating from their flared nostrils. It's almost as if they're dancing on eggs, when, in reality, it's a winter's worth of horse apples.

I rather like the visits from moose as long as all parties keep their distance. We had a case years ago at nighttime where a moose scared the horses in their pasture. The results were expensive. The fence was down, and Rambo had cut his leg severely enough to require stitches.

Bill came home last night with reports of the cow and calf who stayed the day at his office just west of Sandpoint. In fact, Mama moose was so relaxed with her urban setting at the Dept. of Lands complex that she took a breather near Sue, the office receptionist's, car. Sue had to wait a while to take her lunch break and went to her car only when another staffer escorted her there.

Yup, the moose seem to be multiplying just like rabbits these days in the Sandpoint area. They're everywhere, so much so that I've lost all interest in seeing one more moose photo in the Daily Blat, like Marsha Olgilvie's submission today. Nothing against Marsha or any other camera buff who's snapped their very own moose-on-the-loose photo. There is a thrill when these creatures show up at the front porch.

But the story's turning into one giant, ugly cliche with a big nose. After all, it IS a newspaper----not a moosepaper.