Moose!

Neighbour Matt has been up on his roof the last couple of weeks, taking off the old slate shingles and replacing them with new asphalt ones. I'll bet the view's great from up there. Tuesday afternoon I was on the ground, cutting brush and clearing our view from down here. We were working on two sides of the same field. Simon came home from school, came outside to help and wandered over to say hi to Matt.

From his perch on the roof, it seems Matt had watched a young bull moose emerge from the woods, coming up the trail not 50 feet from where I was working. A moose! Here in town! We aren't even close to the mountains or swampy wetlands they prefer. Simon came over to tell me what Matt had said, and my response was less than kind. "Well, Simon, I believe the bull part, but I'm a little skeptical of the moose." Matt loves to talk, he tells a great story, but has a tendency to embellish, just a little ya know? Maybe a deer, perhaps a large squirrel. No moose.

Well, it seems I owe Matt an apology. Speaking with Laura last night, neighbour on the other side, we have corroboration. Her husband was leaving for work Tueday morning but was stopped by what he initially thought was a horse on the laneway. The laneway we share! In front of my house! Not 50 feet from Main Street! Not horse, it turns out, moose.

So of course I've been peering out the windows constantly hoping to catch sight of the beast. No luck. I just want to see it, maybe snap a few pics, then have it move on. Hunting season starts in a few weeks, and while I'm happy to have Bullwinkle hanging around, Elmer Fudd is most definitely NOT welcome.