Moose

You all know the moose!  You grew up watching him both on tele and in the movie theater.  He and his flying squirrel friend entertained us along with the nasty Russians.

It seems as if many of us have our first encounter with certain animals from watching cartoons or movies.  The animals make us laugh, make us cry, make us wish they were real.

Well, in my case I've learned you really do not want to meet a moose in real life.  The first time I saw a moose was at night in Anchorage.  It was standing on a street corner and my first thought was simply "That is ugliest cow I've ever seen!"

It wasn't until I got home, that I found out I'd seen my first moose.  Moose can be rather aggressive if you catch them on the wrong day or they have a little one with them.  I was answering the phone one time at a school and I got a call from a mother, telling me her child would be a bit late to school because the child opened the door and came face to face with a moose.  She closed the door, called mom who called the school to excuse her tardy.

Yes finding a moose on your front porch is considered a valid reason to be tardy along with a blizzard, etc.  Moose can attack and kill people so when Alaskan's see a moose, they exercise caution and head the other way.

Sidenote:  Moose droppings are nice and compact.  They resemble pecans in the shell.  There are several enterprising individuals who collect, process, and then sell moose droppings to people as moose nuggets.  They are made into earrings, necklaces, etc  and look like nuts.