Harley and the Moose

"The soul is the same in all living creatures... although the body of each is different" - Hippocrates

It was an early September morning when Harley and I went for a long walk in the woods. We do that every day and we often see deer and fox, but nothing prepared me for what we were about to encounter on that particular morning...

Harley and I were playing as usual, so I didn't pay much attention to the surroundings until I heard the sound of breaking branches just behind me. I turned around and I stood face to face with a full-grown male...MOOSE ! I know absolutely nothing about moose behavior aside from the fact that with their enormous size they can stomp you into a pulp if you don't know what you are doing and I definitely didn't, so I froze...

I tried to calmly assess the situation: I was in the middle of the woods having a head of a HUGE moose practically touching my face and against all reason showing no signs of wishing to leave or at least give me some personal space. I looked at Harley and he was on cloud nine, convinced that he found another big playmate (possibly confusing the moose with a horse) and was all excited doing his "invitation to play" moves like he does with horses and dogs, which worried me even more. I didn't know how the moose would react, but I figured that it couldn't be good ! Then I remembered reading that in terms of raw numbers, moose attack more people than bears and wolves combined as while they are normally not aggressive towards humans, they can behave with aggression if provoked or frightened. Plus... it was the end of September, which is about when their mating season starts. During that time the male moose is even more likely to be aggressive towards humans due to their hormones running amok.

All this useless information kept popping into my head; useless, because I seemed to only remember what the moose could do to us, but apparently I never did any reading on how I could prevent it. It also dawned on me that if the moose decided to stomp us into a pulp, there was absolutely no one who knew where Harley and I were, so it could take a while before our remains would be found. One thing I knew for sure: like any wild animal, moose are unpredictable and therefore should be given a respectful amount of space. The good news was - I kept telling myself - that the moose didn't seem to be afraid and as far as the respectful amount of space, I wasn't the one who put my face next to his ! I was amazed realizing that my analytical and logical abilities haven't left me at that moment, but on the other hand, I couldn't do anything else as none of my body parts seemed to be able to move. In my defense, I have never met a moose with a need for such close contact. The moose continued staring at me and it was clear that Harley was growing impatient that I was getting more attention than he was, so he marched over to the moose to get his interest. My heart sunk.

And that's when it got even more intriguing: the moose lowered his head to sniff Harley (or to take a close look at his face - not sure which), who seemingly totally fearless was doing a comprehensive investigation of him. It lasted only a few seconds and they must have communicated somehow, as all of a sudden, Harley took off full speed and the moose followed. At first I had no idea what was happening as all I saw was a huge moose chasing Harley and then I lost sight of them. And suddenly I remembered someone telling me that in a presence of a dog, moose may charge, so I panicked. I immediately ran in the direction that they both disappeared not quite sure what I would do when I saw them - all I could think of was my fear that the moose would hurt Harley. And then they appeared again in full gallop. This time, the moose was ahead and Harley was chasing him... I took cover behind the nearest tree to avoid being trampled by the moose and as I watched them run, it occurred to me: they were playing !!! I quickly lost sight of both of them again and every time they reappeared, the roles were reversed.

It continued for a few minutes and then they both stopped running and stood for a few seconds just looking at each other; my beautiful black 70 lbs bundle of joy with a huge smile on his face and a 1200-1500 lbs brown "King of the Forest" with enormous antlers. They weren't afraid or even suspicious of each other and for a few minutes they must have forgotten about all their differences and just played. Now they stood only a few meters away from me and looked like such an odd couple. I teared up - there was something so vulnerable and touching about the way they were standing and looking at each other. Then the moose slowly walked off into the woods and Harley watched until he was out of our sight and that was that. Harley ran up to me and acted like nothing unusual just happened - he was, as always, happy, excited, playful and bounced next to me as we continued our walk.

Harley and I have gone to the same place in the woods many times after that meeting, but have not seen the moose again. Every time we reach the spot, I can see that Harley is looking for him with eager anticipation, so he hasn't forgotten his meeting with the moose.

THE END

Harley and the Moose

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Monika Laryett-Olson

Harley, My Dog, My Hero