A long time ago, I was a researcher of a different sort. I was a young
woman with an exciting job as a wildlife research biologist in Alaska.
I had just come back from a three-month research project studying the
browsing habits and movement of moose on Alaska's North Slope. The
trip is stored in my memory banks as one of the most exciting summers
of my life. Despite the fact that I didn't get to take a shower or
wash my hair for almost two months (until the river was free of ice),
I was in heaven. I had my first 35mm camera, (and my first rifle!) and
spent many "off" hours taking pictures of birds, animals and beautiful
tundra flowers. I saw grizzly bears, caribou, arctic fox (and adorable
kits), a wolverine pouncing for mice, snow geese, sandhill cranes, so
many birds, and nests, and little chicks.....and spent hours watching
moose through binoculars with mosquito netting over my head!
When I came back to Anchorage, I knew all there was to know about
moose! So, when my fiance wanted to go moose hunting that fall, I was
eager to go.
We drove north for several hours until we turned off the main highway
toward an abandoned mining camp. The last hour of bouncing over
winding, rutted, dirt roads was a small price to pay for good (and
secret) hunting territory. We set up camp on a ridge, put on our
windbreakers and gloves, and scoped the area with our binoculars.
What luck! I saw a moose almost from the start! The wind was blowing
and the trees were swaying, but the moose's neck and head were
unmistakable in a dense grove of aspen far down the hill. At first, my
fiance wasn't so sure, but the more we looked, and squinted, and
analyzed, there was no mistaking that the head was moving from branch
to branch, browsing for the choicest leaves!
We wound our way down and around, ducking under brush and getting
tangled in brambles as we skirted around our unsuspecting prey. Every
time my husband-to-be uttered a hint of doubt, I urged him to look
closely. After all, I KNEW what a moose looked like from a distance.
I had just spent three months looking at them through the very same
binoculars!
We whispered back and forth that we couldn't believe our luck. Only a
few hours of hiking and the moose was still in the same spot! We cut
back up to the old mine road so we could get to an area just above the
dense grove of trees. By this time, the wind had really picked up and
the tops of the trees were thrashing back and forth. We could just see
the moose through the limbs, its head still reaching for the tallest
branches. Boy, was I proud of myself. I had just led my fiance to his
first moose!
My fiance took one last look through his binoculars so he could
determine the best approach. Suddenly, he started roaring with
laughter. "What's so funny?" I asked. "Keep your voice down!"
"Okay, mighty moose expert," he said, grinning.
Then he politely informed me, in a hushed voice, that we had just
spent hours stalking an old steam shovel.
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Written with humility by umiat-ga |
