Fairbanks life–moose in my back yard

The moose are back. Every year towards the end of winter, as the snow piles up in the hills and food sources diminish, many moose move down into the valleys and flatlands.  Some migrate into populated areas. Most are no problem but you always have to be cautious. A couple of days ago there was an advisory out for an aggressive moose near the dorms on the University of Alaska campus.

We have a large back-yard garden every summer, and a corresponding compost pile. Pretty much every year we also get moose in our back yard, pawing through the compost pile looking for browse, and chewing on our birch trees. Sometimes they even bed down for the night.

You will notice that there is a fence around our back yard. This means nothing to a moose! One year there was a moose calf in our driveway and the mother was in the neighbor’s yard (on the other side of a 4′ fence). I thought I was safe going outside to take photos of the calf, but before I realized what had happened, the mother moose jumped the fence and I was face to face with her. Time for a hasty retreat—don’t mess with a mother moose!