Around 7:00 a.m. this morning, I spotted this bull moose in the meadow near my cabin. It's almost one year to the day when I photographed the same moose. The sun wasn't up yet, so natural light was barely visible, thus the grainy images. What was extraordinary was the sound of the moose rubbing his rack (dubbed the 'velvet rub out') against the willows and dried brush. I wasn't sure why he was doing it so I researched the question and discovered, "Most scientists, including cervid antler authority George Bubenik, believe that rubbing is largely a behavioral response to increasing testosterone, which stimulates the animal’s preoccupation with scent marking and his sexuality." [source] Witnessing something like this in nature feels like a great gift.
RSS Feed
