GAY .... OR JUST A LITTLE CONFUSED??
XXX Warning: some adult content! You have probably heard the expression "0 To 60 in 2 seconds flat", or something similar. Well, that expression is a metaphor for my photographic experience with a herd of Moose in Grand Teton National Park. I went from having zero interesting moose images to having some very rare moose images in less than 24 hours. How did THAT happen? As a wildlife photographer, moose had been on my bucket list for years. But, I am a bit of a lazy opportunist. I wanted, but never put the effort into hunting for moose images. I just went out into habitat and hoped to find some. "Hope in one hand and poop in the other, see which one gets full first" an old friend once advised me. So, moose stayed on the list for years. But then another photographer/friend came back from Grand Teton National Park and spoke of moose walking through his campsite ... every day! I was on it. One week later I was in Grand Teton National Park looking for the Gros Vente campground. That's where the moose were suppose to be? .... and they were, but not the way I expected!
Now, understand that an adult moose is the tallest, largest and heaviest species of deer (yeah, deer?) in North America. And, moose have GIANT antlers, which I feel give them the crown for most ominous woodland critter. The good news is, they are vegans and typically chose to avoid humans. In spite of that natural aversion to us two legged beasts, the GrosVente herd seemed to be very content just relaxing and lounging around among the campers.
Like cats on your bedspread. They acted like they owned the place.
It was just before sunset, and the moose were doing regular, old, nightime moose stuff. Like a good night kiss?
Not exactly the classic nature images I was looking for, but OK, the moose are definitely here. This should be a great opportunity to fill my moose photo bucket. I was back before sunrise the next day. So were a bunch of other photographers. It appears that the Gros Ventre campground was well known moose photo op location. Once again there were moose everywhere, this time doing moose morning stuff. Like having breakfast ....
But also squabbling over something over here,
Watching us and ours over there (I wonder if that female moose wonders how a dog got such a great car?)
and trying to mate anywhere possible (it was the season ...)
At this point I need to make it clear that I am NOT moose knowledgeable. I had never even seen this many moose in one place at one time in my life. Or, this many moose ever, period. Anything, and everything I write from this point on is simply based on my observations during my encounters on this one morning -OR- Don't quote me on this...... And I observed some unusual behavior!! It appeared to me that the mating responsibility in this herd was held by one big boss bull. Check out the size of that rack! He approached several of the ladies, none of whom seemed interested in early morning frolics. There were other big bulls in the herd, but it seemed that they all knew it wasn't their turn to bat. But there was one very young boy-bull (note the size of his antlers) that had not paid attention in class. He went around mimicking all the actions of the big boss bull, but the females seemed to simply ignore him as well.
This moose family circus went on until about 9 AM. Then it must have been break time for the moose staff. They ALL just dropped what they were doing and headed toward the river. The knowledgeable photographers who were regulars at Gros Vente grabbed their gear and hussled off in pursuit. I was later told that the other photographers were all hoping to get a National Geographic calendar image of moose crossing the river. I was a rookie at Gros Vente, so I missed the river shot. I chose to follow a couple of other guys who looked like they knew what was going on, and we found one of the really big bulls in a lovely natural setting.
I think it was big boss bull, and we watched him eating river side shrubbery for a while, until he just laid down in the weeds. And he didn't move for a long time.
The other "knowledgeable" photographers peeled off from our formation, one at a time, until I was the last man standing. And, from where I was standing, all I could see were the antlers. BUT, I was only 30 yards from a trophy bull moose, on a sunny day, in a lovely Fall setting. This could be my moose photo bucket list moment. This is what I came here for. Wait! Did I hear snoring? So, I peeled of as well.
It was only a couple hundred yard walk through natural woodland to get back to the campground. What could possibly go wrong .... or right? Well, I stepped through some scrub brush, into a clearing, and almost stepped on a different large bull moose. Didn't even see him. But he saw me. It must be in moose DNA because he too was just lying down. I did not want to startle, or threaten him, so I froze and waited a moment. Remember "most ominous". It seemed he couldn't care less about me, so I slowly and carefully backed away. I was trying to escape unharmed .... until I saw a small group of Birch trees that formed a somewhat protective blind. Maybe I could get a good candid shot, then escape unharmed? I settled into the birch blind and waited for something to happen .... and it didn't take long. Remember boy-bull from the morning session? He trotted into the clearing from the other side. I was NOT prepared for what happened next!
At first it looked like the youngster was simply being playful and was looking for a sparing partner. He kept pestering the OG (older guy}. The OG tolerated the pest for about 10 minutes, but it was steadily getting more serious.
Early in this story I tried to make it clear that I had almost zero experience with moose prior to this trip. And in this case,"almost zero" means less than zero. So I didn't really know what I was seeing as I watched boy bull appear to be going through the same steps that he tried on the females earlier. I quietly watched from the almost protective birch blind as boy-bull kept pestering; then OG stood up!
OG was much larger, and had vastly larger antlers, so I expected a bit of a come-uppance training session. Didn't happen.
Boy-bull persisted, and now it was clear to me that he was, in fact, going through the same steps that he had tried earlier on herd females.
OG was probably wondering when and how he got recruited into being a substitute sex-ed teacher.
But his student seemed intent on learning, and was trying to win the teachers favor, so OG remained calm.
It was obvious to the uneducated that boy-bull was attempting to mate. As might be expected, his first attempts were a bit clumsy, but clearly serious,
But OG showed the patience of a saint .... maybe remembering his own youth. And progress came slowly ....
Some say that love is blind .... maybe in this case blinded, but persistent?
After 40 minutes of trying, the couple took a break and, it seemed that for the first time, noticed I was hiding in the birch blind. And they didn't really care. Maybe moose don't have a word for Judging?
I did not stay for the second act, if there was one. During the first act I had witnessed at least 4 attempts at consumating the mating ritual. I had hundreds of what might be considered bucket list moose photos. I was still unharmed and I felt it was the time to escape. Obviously I did not try to squeeze all the images into this story, but I guarantee you I did NOT hold anything back. There is nothing waiting to be released in a sequel. You are now provided with all the facts I can provide. You can now use your own judgement to answer the question I posed with the title of this story.
Obviously I did eventually get back to Gros Vente campground unharmed, but there were other ecounters with bull moose in the woods before I got back. If you would like to see them, try this link: Big Moose Encounters