Double Trouble
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The “moose” (alces shirasi) is the largest member of the deer family, weighing 800-1200 lbs and up to 6 feet at the shoulder.
Alces shirasi
They range from sagebrush flats to timberline feeding primarily on brush, especially willows where they can be easily concealed. The first group of 12 were transplanted into Colorado in 1978 near Walden and in 1991-92 to near Creede. They now number over 3,000.
The summer of 2024, we ventured into the western side of the Never Summer Range, west of Rocky Mtn. Nat’l. Park with the hopes of photographing the well established moose population there. We were quite excited to find these two younger bulls grazing in the willows, not far from our campsite in the waning, evening hours. Getting a good photo of one moose would have been satisfaction enough, but two of them together was an exciting surprise. Not too far away was a female with a first year calf, grazing as well. Since we were here on the verge of the late summer “rut,” we assumed these two males were grazing within the vicinity of the female awaiting their opportunity. While these two together could have posed “double trouble,” a good telephoto lens helped us capture this moment because they were much more focused on grazing than on us.