There Really Are Moose in Alaska

For weeks I’ve been on other lookout for the elusive moose. I have chased vanishing moose for over a solid month. I had begun to think that I’m jinxed and would not see any moose. I kept hearing rumors of moose sightings. I had seen a dead moose but not a living, breathing, moving moose. For the last three days I had heard about how there were three moose living around the school. I had seen a picture of one in the morning darkness. I had been told multiple times to go look in this spot or that spot. Still I had seen no moose. Two days ago our community liaison had a moose walk out of the brush and walk alongside her as she walked to the store after school. She said it walked alongside her like another person. Then it turned and disappeared into the brush. Our cross country coach said she saw one bedding down near the road on her way home. The next morning she and her roommate saw it in the exact same spot on their way to school. The same way that I travel. In fact I went and looked at the spot where it had bedded down. I walked within ten feet of it and didn’t see it in the dark. They came behind me on a four wheeler and their headlight exposed it to them. Today it all changed. I was sitting in the cafeteria when a teacher’s aide came running up to me and said there were moose outside. I jumped up and grabbed my phone and headed out into the rain to try to spot them. I got out side and didn’t see anything. The kids were calling out the window which way for me to go. I could hear splashing in the low area beside the basketball courts so I headed that way. I found two moose that looked to be between one and two years old. I didn’t see their mother but I could hear a larger animal moving in the brush beyond them. The kids were telling me to be careful in case they charged me and I was telling them to be quiet and not run them off. I got a short video of them after I as close as I thought I could without running them off. After I cut my camera off I watched them for a few minutes before they wandered deeper into the brush. I went back inside the school. When junior high lunch came the students that watched me do that came to me and were surprised that I wasn’t afraid to go that close to the moose. Honestly I was approximately 15 to 20 yards from them and I was on a gravel road and they were down in a swampy area. I had a head start and like I mentioned they were calves and probably afraid of me. I showed the kids my video and they seemed to enjoy it. I had just had a conversation this morning with the principal about not seeing any moose yet. He has been in the same boat. When I found him after this and showed him the video he just shook his head and said, “Well I guess you just proved there really are moose in Alaska”.

Thanks to some friends and readers I’ve been sent candy. I’ve been giving it to the elementary kids on Fridays. This week I gave it out a day early. The kids really like it and it’s a chance for them to be rewarded for being good and putting in hard work. Thank you to all of the contributors.