I'm hiking along the trail. My
head is down looking at my footing so I don't stumble and suddenly I look up in front of
me because it seems like the trail is blocked. There, maybe 20 steps further on is a moose... a BIG moose! It's sitting or
squatting down in the middle of the trail looking at me. And it's funny looking. And I
froze and I looked at it. And then I sort of squatted down, and very slowly got on my
backpack because I figured if I had to run I'd better be ready to move fast. Then we
stared at each other, must have been 3 or 4 minutes but it seemed like half an hour. All
of a sudden, it made this funny noise in its throat, jumped and went through the thickest
underbrush so fast. It must have been 2,000 pounds, but moose can move fast! Luckily it
ran to the side and not straight ahead. I could never have moved out of the way fast
enough. Moose look a little like a horse and a cow and a I don't know what, a
donkey...what are they? Are they horses? Are there moose in other places in the world? Are
they only in the north? Do they ever go south? Who named them moose?
- Jacques d'Amboise |
