The Moose Mating Dance

The moose mating season is heating up around here. For the past week or so the bulls have been hard to find. Usually they are following the cows around, but they have been hard to find as well. Every morning and afternoon I hike the river, looking for any sign of the moose.

Saturday morning Washakie showed up. He’s been MIA since he stripped the velvet from his antlers, so it was good to see him again. He is however limping badly, and certainly favoring his left front leg. But, he was still all about being with the cows, and hopefully being a moose dad again.

He sidles up to her.

Gives her a sniff to see if she is ready to mate yet.

This is the lip curl, or flehman response. This helps him smell if she is ready or not.

Such a handsome guy, what female moose could say no to this.

The next morning was an amazing sunrise. Windy, but warm and very pleasant.

I set off in search of Washakie, or anything else of interest at 7am. He was no where to be found, so I went to a different place. I ran into my friend and fellow photographer, and we met another photographer that had seen a different bull. We hiked along until we found this bull, and cow. He is a new one for me, not as huge as the others, but impressive just the same.

He had mating season on his mind too.

We had quite the show with him and his lady moose friend. I created this time lapse video of the shots I took. Watching animal behavior like this, is a definite bonus to being a photographer.

The bull moose dug an indent in the ground, then pee’d in it. Like I explained the other day. He then laid down in it, and the cow laid there with him. Then they stood up and began what I can only call the moose mating dance.

I found it very interesting how she rubbed her head along his rear legs. I’m sure she was getting the scent off of him. This must be her way of saying she would like to…..ya know.

Wildlife, and nature are always fascinating.