I suppose we could say this is the winter from hell frozen over. It just doesn’t want to end and the temperature is staying around 20-30 degrees below normal for this time of the year.
Here’s another February warm me up. This moose was grazing around in Compass Pond along the Golden Road near Baxter State Park in Northern Maine back in June of 2007. I am hoping to get up there again this summer…I missed my visit last year.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
I am envious of all your snow. We’ve been cheated this year in Wisconsin. And by the way, lovely moose!
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I’d be more than happy to share, Ms. Riordan. I’ll see if I can arrange a couple of box cars full for your yard. 🙂
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You’re on!
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What a handsome beast. I love the markings on the fur and antlers.
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Not many people appreciate the handsomeness, Lottie, but they are beautiful animals. See my reply to Jim below…they are also cute. 🙂
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A moose wandered down into IA from MN a few years ago. Your moose looks healthy. The only one I have see in person was this specimen in the Tetons. His tongue is out. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qwnx7__9jDA/TA2bBziD_7I/AAAAAAAAFVA/bAmp-Wh7gmw/s720/2010_0603Tetons21.jpg
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I am not sure if this will work, but let’s give it a try. After I post this I will edit to see if I can add a picture.
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Bingo! 🙂
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Nice horn buds and tongue. It worked. Thanks.
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Did you notice the water drops, Jim?
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Ha…now I do!
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I found myself pondering all your snow yesterday and thinking, “It’s terrible, but I surely do hope there’s a slow thaw.” The last thing you need now is a sudden uptick to 50 degrees.
The moose is delightful. I take it that’s the same sort of velvet on his antlers that our deer have. And it looks like he’s shedding his winter coat, just as the bison do. They’re such a fun combination of majestic, gangly, and cute. Was it the moose that someone defined as “a horse made by a committee”?
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I had never heard that comparison before, Linda. So I Googled it and the phrase refers to a camel. Something new every day.
Moose are related to deer, so you are correct is seeing the velvet as similar to your deer. They do shed their coat which some misinterpret as mange. As the season wears on, the velvet drops from the antlers in a bloody mess which looks awful but is perfectly natural, leaving the antlers more bone-like for the autumn sparring over mates.
Please yes, a slow melt will be more than welcomed. The Connecticut River often floods during the spring melt. In 1927, there was a massive flood of the Connecticut River Valley that caused quite a bit of damage. Quite often a part of Hadley, mostly around Aqua Vita Road, floods the fields and several homes if the melt is too sudden up north.
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That moose cheered me up and we’ve had a mild winter! You must have stolen some of our cold.
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It’s all yours if you want it back, Lyle. I guess the changing weather patterns are part of climate change. We are seeing much of our winter coming from an arctic origin the last few years.
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Majestic creature and a nice capture. I hope you will be able to get to Maine this year. Some different scenery should energize you.
I feel for you up there in “them thar parts” where you’ll freeze your back end off if not careful. The weather here has been good this week but, it is due to get ugly tonight. I hate the wind, cold and drizzle. The chill factor is what makes it so unpleasant when the temp is a bit below freezing. I suppose people everywhere will always find something to complain about but. I know that I’m fortunate to live in central Texas.
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It’s like the old Excedrin commercial, Yvonne. It may not be the worst headache anyone’s ever had, but it’s yours and you want it to go away. Same for the cold. It’s all relative, so go ahead and complain. You would not think it possible, but after waking up to below zero temperatures many mornings in a row, 15° seems balmy. I’ve become so used to -5° or whatever, that the teens seem like shorts and flip flop weather. 🙂
I am eager to get up there for sure.
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Moose are such amazing creatures, love your photo. I think I have gotten too old for winter weather that pounds you like that, I grew up in Minnesota.
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It does wear on you after a while, Charlie. It is to be well below zero again this Saturday am, but I will give it a try. Last weekend I gave in to age and stayed inside without making a single image. It felt terrible and I don’t want to repeat that again this weekend. Sunday may be raining. 😯
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Nice shot … suggests that our current conditions may not last forever? It’s 7:10PM and just 3F … we were down to -8F last night, -10F at the beginning of the week, and one of my three ‘frost-free’ hydrants froze two days ago (meaning I’ve got to haul 5 gallon buckets to the poultry now). The horse manure freezes to concrete overnight and it takes a digging bar to pry it free while cleaning the horse barn. We’ve burned through almost half of the wood … but winter is way more than half over … right? I’ve been getting up between 1 and 2AM to reload the stoves for fear they’d go dark overnight. Makes for long nights and seemingly longer days. Absolutely NO photos in nearly two weeks – nor a single snap. Perhaps I should simply put the gear up for sale on Ebay? Hrmph.
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We are pretty fortunate that our stove maintains heat through the night. Mary Beth throws some splits on around 10pm and I find a still glowing bed of coals to work with at 4am. Having to take a hammer and chisel to frozen cow poop is much more daunting than scraping up the crunchy frosty beagle poop that Murphy all of a sudden finds tasty. We get a break from the sub-zeroes on Sunday but will pay for it with freezing rain after several new inches of snow.
I have only been out making images once in the last two weeks, hence the summer flashbacks. Supposably, it may be-10°in the morning but I will try to get out.
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Brrrr …. good luck and don’t forget to bring your gloves … and keep the engine running!
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-16°! I may reconsider. If I do go out I most likely will not venture far from the car and its sanctuary.
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Wonderful moosey escape, Steve! Thank you for this.
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Thanks, Melissa. I’m happy that you enjoyed it.
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