Dog Yard Visitors

Bull and Cow moose in the clearing below the dogs on a late
summers day.

   Last night I heard one of the young dogs sound the "alarm bark" so I grabbed a bright light and headed outside to see what was up. I found it a little odd that only two or three dogs were actually barking and the rest were either hiding in their houses or quietly watching. A quick glance around the dog yard with the light quickly revealed this young dogs cause for concern, a young bull moose was munching on some willows barely 15 feet away.
   Pirate the young dog quickly quitted down, my presence was all that was needed to calm down this nervous young dog who had never seen one of these giant animals up close before. The young moose didn't seem at all bothered by my presence or the dogs, he was standing a mere five feet from two dog houses who's occupants were hiding quietly inside. Not  liking this young moose being so close to my dogs I went inside to get my husband for back up, I wanted to run this moose off.
  We yelled and he trotted about 50 yards away through the clearing below the dog yard and stopped, we went back inside hoping he would just move on. Shortly after we went back in we heard Pirate and a few other dogs resound the alarm. The moose had come back, but not quite as close this time, he was in the willows and wooded area below the dog yard about 25 yards from the closest dog. The moose seemed to just be browsing and making his way away from the dogs so we let him be, quieted the dogs  and went back inside.
  We really didn't hear to much more from the dogs until about 8 hours later, I got out of bed to see what was happening, the moose was on the other side of the dog yard now and standing in our driveway. I watched him for a moment while he looked around and then headed down the road and away from the house.
   I wasn't able to get pictures of him due to poor lighting so I am adding some pictures of some other moose and a few cranes who have visited or yard. From time to time we get some wild life visitors usually moose who we alway keep an eye on and if they get too close we'll encourage them to move on   as they can be dangerous to the dogs and us if we aren't careful. We did have a close call last winter when a cow moose got angry after her calf wandered to close to a barking dog and she charged the dog who quickly ran in her house and hid. After the moose moved on I had to pry the poor scared dog out of her house to check on her, that dog has never barked at another visiting moose. Usually moose visits go about like last night, the moose come they eat, they leave. Other wild life visitors such as fox, rabbits, cranes, and other birds don't pose a big threat to the dogs and are fun to watch.

Two cranes below the dog yard last spring,

Chupa and a Cow moose who visited last August.