Outdoor News / July 2012 / Moose-less in New York

 Email  Print  Feed

Moose-less in New York

I'm now more than ever convinced the only way I'll ever see a moose in New York state is if it saunters into our driveway, munches its way through Paula's garden and then stops by the window box that sits on my office window to mow down whatever kind of flowers – maybe zinnias – are planted there.

The frustration level of being moose-less in the Empire State continues to rise as the unique animals continue to lumber through the neighborhood, usually while we're out of town or just around the corner.

But we're getting closer. Or at least the moose are.

The latest near-sighting occurred in early June, although we didn't know it at the time. That's when a couple neighbors – a friend and his grandson,  who in the past has taken care of our chickens – both captured trail cam images of a wandering cow moose less than 500 yards from our home and office here in the Adirondacks.

It's not the first time a moose has been seen on our hill, or even our road. And it's entirely possible the recent moose may have lumbered through our property; she was that close.

It's really become a bit of a joke between Paula and me. We have, in fact, seen hundreds of the creatures, beginning with an inauspicious sighting of a road-killed cow moose near Cochrane in northern Ontario. From there, however, it's been a steady stream of photo ops in places like Newfoundland, where I put down the camera and picked up the .270; Maine, northern Minnesota, Montana and, notably, Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park, where we've paddled past scores of them and called some big bulls into close range.

We have the photos on the wall to prove it. But we're quick to admit we've never seen one of the Empire State's estimated 800 moose.

Lord knows we've tried. Driving through remote tracts of the Adirondacks (such as Perkins Clearing, a noted hotspot). Snowshoeing through a spruce big in the town of Duane where they're known to frequent. Following up on reported sightings not far from home.

Nothing. Well, almost nothing. A track while pheasant hunting off Lake Champlain a few years back. Photos taken by friends of a cow posing in a field in Westport – while we were canoeing Algonquin looking for moose.

We'll keep looking. I mean, it may be like searching for a needle in a haystack. But even I have to admit, it's a pretty big needle.