Originally Posted by
Driver8
Climbed Mount Ascutney in Vermont yesterday, about 20 miles east of the A.T., via the Weathersfield trail from the south. Got a late afternoon start and summitted at about 7:40 pm. Decided to take the Park Road down and catch a cab from the east base of the mtn around to my car, all of which worked out just fine, happy to say.
So to the guessing game. At about 2500' on the park road, there was a startling rumbling from the left, northward, downhill shoulder of the road. I'd awakened an animal with the noise I, my pack and my TPs made. It was about 9 pm, not yet dark, and walking on the left side of the road, I was about 20 feet from the waking animal.
Startled, I first stepped toward it and clicked my polls against each other and, of all things, said, firmly but not yelled, "What are you?" - go figure. The animal continued to rumble and attempted to stand. Alone, I quickly thought better to get away and not find out what exactly this animal is. I retreated, continuing downhill and looking back over my shoulder several times. Fortunately, probably sensing my retreat, the animal evidently lay back down to sleep, as I hear no further noise from its direction. It made no "spoken" noise during this encouter - no grunts, groans, etc. It seemed to be of good size.
Based on its size and what little I saw of its shape, I'd guess it was a moose or a deer - I think I saw its head faintly, in the deepening dusk, but only for a split second. Based on the animal's size, I'd say deer or small moose, based on the size and shape of its head, moose - but that was only a poor, very quick look in very low light.
So, fellow hikers and animal observers, what do you think? Do deer run and rest in packs, making it unlikely this was a deer resting solo (this almost certainly was one animal)? What about the habits of moose? Could it have been a young solo buck or doe moose? Would their habits in terms of running and sleeping solo vs. in packs make that a likely result here? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a bear - not the right shape or size, this animal seemed to be on tall thin legs, and not, thankfully, some wildcat, which, once roused, might've stalked me - that for a minute or two was a discomfiting thought.
So did I have my first moose encounter in the, well, mostly wild yesterday? Or was this my 100th deer or so to run across while on a hike?