Moose lying down in brush just off short trail
between Maude Noble’s cabin and Menor’s Ferry,
Grand Teton National Park.
This bull moose, along with a cow and a calf, was laying down just off a trail we were walking on. Karen spotted it, and thinking it would be a great picture, got my attention. When I saw it, I figured that we were way too close to it, even though it was laying down, so we left the trail and looped away from it to get back to the trail at a point further down where there was an old barn. As we got back to the trail we saw a young ranger gesturing to us to where she was standing, which was in the direction we were going anyway. The moose had apparently already been reported and, since they were in an area with frequent pedeatrian traffic, rangers just arrived to keep people away from the animals. Though the moose were obviously used to the presence of people, they are still wild animals… and they are big and can move very fast. As well, according to the ranger we, some boys had been throwing rocks at the moose the day before.
While we were there, the rangers strung a yellow plastic barrier tape — the kind you see at crime scenes in movies and TV shows — to keep the public at a safe distance from the moose.
This picture was taken from a window inside the old barn.