This is really reaching back into the archives. In the summer of 1982 (yep, 32+ years ago) I visited Baxter State Park with my now pretty much life long friend (35+ years) Mark Picard. He invited me to experience moose and that we did. Their numbers have unfortunately dwindled due to a few problems…winter tick being a big one. They suck the moose relatively dry of blood leaving them weak and, for the most part, unable to survive once spring returns. Many scientists consider climate change to be behind the surge in the tick population.
If you wish, here is a PBS video about moose and ticks. It’s in New Hampshire, but equally applies to Maine.
Back to the image. This is about a 50% crop of the original transparency, most likely a Kodachrome K64, shot with a Canon F1n and a 300mm lens. That’s all I can tell you as, for some odd reason, film did not come with metadata.
I’ve photographed moose on other occasions, but this was my first time and, as we all know, you never forget your first.
This is also coupled with finding my first Beagle, Cassie, when I returned home from the trip. She had been abandoned and Mark encouraged me to adopt her. It was wonderful. A few months later Mary Beth and I got reacquainted and that is still going strong. 1982 was a very good year. I am happy to have taken you back there with me. 🙂
If you are interested in photographing moose in Northern Maine, I highly recommend Mark’s workshops.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Good for you and Mary Beth. I hope the feeling continues for you two.
That is another potential impact of climate change. We are seeing some plants and disease bearing insects and microbes coming north into IA with the warmer temps and longer growing seasons.
I hope your moose population doesn’t dwindle to zero.
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Thanks. We work at it but not too hard. 🙂
Someone gave Mary Beth a Bougainvillea as a goodbye gift when she stopped working a while back. But it didn’t care for our climate. Soon it will be a Massachusetts native the way things are changing.
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That would be quite a change.
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I’m interested to know how you digitally mastered the Kodachrome? Slide copier perhaps? I’ve got more than 5000 slides in storage that I’d love to have transferred. Tried once … with a very slow scanner … and realized that I’d lose my mind before ever coming close to finishing the job. The tick/moose problem is a sad one and, I’m sure, due to the progressively less-harsh winter conditions up North. We note, even here in Pennsylvania, that when we’ve got a particularly warm winter, the ticks are just terrible – and we worry about Lyme Disease here. Both Joanna and I have been treated more than once for bites. Very cold winters tend to increase the amount of tick die off … but then again harsh winters tend to kill our bee colonies as well. What are you gonna do? We had very uncomfortable temperatures here today … mid 60s! I was dripping sweat while doing chores. Didn’t like it. Tomorrow promises to be a bit cooler for turkey butchering. Wish us luck. D
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Back in the day…. a few years back…I had a Nikon Coolscan4000 Scanner. It was tedious doing one at a time, but most of my older efforts left a bit to be desired, so I did not scan that many. I still have my old Epson Expression 1600 which came with a carrier for 16 slides at a time, but it isn’t a very good scanner for transparencies and I no longer have the removable cover or carriers.
If I ever want one scanned I will see if I can find someone to do it for me. I believe Mark still has his….as he also has thousands of slides…almost all are moose.
Our ticks are also in a bull market along with mosquitoes and a few others that we’d rather see dwindling. As the article mentions, winter ticks are not an issue for humans, only ungulates, and deer are able to shake or scrape them off but not moose.
I admire you for butchering your own meats. There is no way I could manage that. When I was a kid I threw all my fish back as I could not bear to cut them up. Even the mice we catch now are with a Hav-a-hart trap which then allows me to take them for a ride to an open field away from houses. Possibly they don’t have the wherewithal to survive out there in the open, but it’s better that they at least have a chance. After all, they came in from the outdoors.
Today was an expensive one. $500 for a new TV and $850 for new rotors and a rear wheel bearing.
Rain all day today until about 4pm and warm temperatures also. We are having a fire tonight but just a small one.
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The scanner issue is difficult indeed. I had once thought of purchasing a CoolScan, thinking the 50 slide magazine might reduce some of the tedium. From what you say above, that wouldn’t have been the case. I don’t know what I’ll do. Perhaps it’s a job for ‘retirement.’ You speak of taking a mouse on a road trip after having caught one in a live trap. We once found a rattle snake in the barn and didn’t think that was the best place for him. Although it is illegal to kill a rattler, most folks in our area would have either shot the interloper or taken the better end of a shovel to him. Joanna and I placed a 55 gallon drum on its side right next to the thing. Then, with a pole pruner, we nudged him deep inside. Then, again with the pole pruner, we tipped the barrel back upright. Then, this time using my hands, I put the lid on the drum. We put the drum in the truck and drove ‘up the mountain.’ We released the snake and drove back home, knowing full well that we had done a good thing. Now, with regard to the turkey, butchering day is a serious and somber time … no one enjoys it. It’s a job that has to be done … if not by us, by someone else. Our birds live a good life while they are with us and their end is without fear and faster than instantaneous. D
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I am not sure I would be taking a rattler anywhere. But your method seems safe enough.
I took a mouse for a ride this morning. It’s funny that they don’t like the cage, but when I open it I have to make them leave. The one last week was more adventurous than most and, once I opened the trap, bounded out onto my leg, down to the ground, and ran with long leaps to the tall grass. I think that one will make it.
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I have tried having slides scanned – I don’t have my own scanner – and have always been disappointed. I have probably 10s of thousands of slides and there must be one good one in there somewhere. This has stood the test of time very well, Steve. A treasured memory from a memorable year.
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The best scans are quite expensive, Andrew. The scanner I mentioned does a pretty decent job, but it is very time consuming and third party software does a better job than the stuff that comes with the scanner.
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Sweet and touching, such a perfect relief for the cold gray day we are working though here.
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It is a sweet scene. Anything with a bay is going to be sweet. Our day here was like yours….but with the ominous forecast of several inches of snow, although nothing approaching the dump on Buffalo.
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I can’t get over how much like a horse the adult moose looks in your photo. Perhaps you didn’t have that impression because you took the picture and knew all along that the animal was a moose.
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I had no doubt it was a cow moose. I watched the two approach the water and got several frames, but this was the only one with the calf looking toward the camera with a little catch light.
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Oh gee, I like the story of finding Cassie and of you and Mary Beth reconnecting. 1982 was a very good year. It’s pitiful when you mention the ticks, deer and moose. I so, hate the climate change thing. Bad-bad-bad! Is their an answer? Frankly, I don’t think so.
Now about those slides. I have so many and and also the home movies that are 8mm or is at 16mm? I can’t remember which. I have my slide projector stored some place in this house but can’t remember if it was working when I put it away. Also, I have continued to think that some day I’ll get a scanner. My photo store went out of business and that is where I had a few pics scanned. I didn’t even know the place was closed till I drove past one day. I was appalled.
I keep telling myself that I’ll work on my photos some day but I’m waiting to feel alive again. An ablation for my heart will be coming up probably in December and I hope I make it through and come out feeling better. And that (ain’t) no joke. 🙂
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Thanks, Yvonne.
I am so sorry that your heart is causing you so much difficulty. I’ll be waiting eagerly to hear how it went and that the procedure made a huge positive difference in your health and energy. Best of luck when the time comes next month!!!!
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It seems that Mark Picard was looking for his muse but misread the word and ended up with a passion for moose.
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I think his muse IS a moose.
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Very nice shot. I loved Kodachrome. Loved the colors. This shot really captures the family feel. Well done.
On the topic of Moose, my wife and I were hiking along the Dana Road toward the Common last week and about a mile in, we met a photographer walking out who warned us that he inadvertently confronted a moose cow right on the Common, which he thought was interesting until he turned around and saw a bull moose just a few hundred feet away. They were both making strange noises, so he suggested we be careful. Alas, since I’ve been ill, we choose not to pursue the matter further. The tick issue though is absolutely horrifying. What a terrible way to die. As the Quabbin continues to warm I can only imagine the situation getting worse.
FYI, I have a Nikon 5000 scanner and it does a great job on Kodachrome. If you need a few slides done let me know. It is without doubt the most tedious activity I’ve ever had the misfortune to practice. Makes watching the grass grow thrilling by comparison.
James
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I hope you are feeling better now, James.
I’ve yet to see a moose in the Quabbin woods. Two have run in front of me along 202 and I’ve seen a couple of others at the side of the road pruning the bushes, but no up close and personals yet. Yeah, retreat was probably wise.
Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on that some day, but for now my hands are full with the digital stuff. I find most scanning to be tedious. I can’t imagine doing them by the hundred or even dozen, but I think I could handle one every once in a while.
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A relationship and photography going strong since 1982. I wonder if there is a connection? Both are amazing.
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Thanks, Lyle. They are perking along independent of each other. Mary Beth is very supportive but not actually involved in the photographic adventures.
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