Moose-ing around in the Yukon
It’s that time of year when moose mate. Today I got incredibly lucky and witnessed part of a mating dance at Tutshi Lake.
I first saw this bull on the sand bar at the south end of the lake, at the mouth of the Tutshi River. He was just a speck – these photos are all shot at 300mm and then enhanced with about a 3x “digital zoom”, approximating a 900mm lens!
I moved up the highway about 1/2 a kilometer, parked and shut the car off. When he walked over to the edge of the forest I could hear him calling.
This cow came over to him.
They ran around in the water, making a great deal of noise – calling and grunting.
Then away they went, out of sight.
A sighting like this is extremely rare, and this was shot a few feet from my car. None of the other cars or the many tour buses on the highway saw it. This is a very good example of why I live in the Yukon. I may bitch and moan about the winters, but this experience, as with my wolf-pack encounter a few years ago, will stay with me forever. Absolutely magical.
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