View Full Version : Guessing Game - What Animal Did I Startle?
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?
Approximate GPS coordinates for the place this happenned: 43 deg 26' 07.00' N and 72 deg 26' 45.78' W. Fairly high and dry, not close to a water source. Saw a few examples of moose scat climbing the Weathersfield Trail earlier.
With those coordinants it was bigfoot...no doubt
rocketsocks
06-22-2014, 19:26
Could be one a dees
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=25329&c=694
your lucky you got outta there alive.
Migrating Bird
06-22-2014, 20:12
Hey D8
It's Bull (male) Cow (female) moose, Buck & Doe deer. Both deer and moose are flight animals except during the rut or in the case of moose guarding their young. Deer yard up in winter and moose tend to spend their winters up high, both browse on new tender growth and are active both day and night. With that said, your encounter, could be anything from porcupine or rabbit to bear or moose. Nothing to be frightened of, consider yourself lucky for the experience. At least I'm sure it got your juices flowing.
Happy trails.
M. Bird.
Sarcasm the elf
06-22-2014, 20:37
Could be one a dees
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=25329&c=694
your lucky you got outta there alive.
:eek::eek::eek: Lets never speak of that photo again.
Sarcasm the elf
06-22-2014, 20:48
Driver, based on your description I doubt it was a whitetail deer, unless you were in an area where you would expect the deer to be very habituated to humans. Deer are generally very flighty and will usually take off quickly and go at least several strides crashing through the forest in order to get some distance between you and them before they look back to assess the situation (I call this the deer explosion and it will scare the hell out of you at night if you're not expecting it.) The only times I've encountered deer that didn't run from me were bucks during the height of the rut and one highly habituated doe that was used to eating people food at a busy state park.
Foresight
06-22-2014, 21:39
:sniff: :sniff:
could be anything from porcupine or rabbit to bear or moose. Nothing to be frightened of, consider yourself lucky for the experience. At least I'm sure it got your juices flowing.
Happy trails.
M. Bird.
Hi MB: It was certainly not a smaller mammal - took up too much space. It was most likely a sleeping deer or moose most likely which, hearing a human rumbling nearby its nest for the night, had the flight response of trying to get onto its feet to escape and, momentarily confronted from a distance of a dozen feet and then with its interloper quickly retreating, seems to have settled back down into its nest, best as I can tell. I reckon moose most likely, as it was so high up the mountain - do deer hang out that high? It was pretty well at the top of the transition zone from hardwood to spruce/fir. Also, it would take a moose longer to get to its feet than a deer, and this animal was less quick in that way than what I've seen of deer.
I believe it was a moose, probably a yearling or other young bull since it was alone, and deer seem to run in packs from my many observations. Would be cool if I'd seen it better, but then again, that would've involved a big risk to me at that time and place - better that I got out unscathed.
Driver, based on your description I doubt it was a whitetail deer, unless you were in an area where you would expect the deer to be very habituated to humans. Deer are generally very flighty and will usually take off quickly and go at least several strides crashing through the forest in order to get some distance between you and them before they look back to assess the situation (I call this the deer explosion and it will scare the hell out of you at night if you're not expecting it.)
Hi Elf, how've you been? You sum up pretty well why I'm leaning moose, that and the fact, from what I gather, that young male bull moose are often out on their own.
Could be one a dees
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=25329&c=694
your lucky you got outta there alive.
Hey, at least it wasn't a Jersey hiker, or worse yet, driver. ;)
Damn Yankee
06-23-2014, 08:06
I'd like to say Deer but, confused about your description of the sounds you heard. I fawn would lay silent and an adult would bolt, stop and look but not settle back in. I though Bear maybe by the description of the rumbling sound but you thought it looked like a Deer so, against my better judgment, I'll say Deer
Shutterbug
06-23-2014, 10:43
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?
It could have been a moose or a bear. Based on my experience, a moose will make lot of noise as they move away. They go crashing through the woods without being concerned about the noise they are making. One can often hear them for 100 yards or more. They break a lot of branches as they move through the woods.
In contrast, bears don't usually make as much noise. They slip through the woods without breaking off branches. Bears are amazingly fast when they want to be, but most of the time they don't run at their top speed. They just mosey into the deep woods and disappear. One will seldom hear a bear beyond 20 yards away.
In the future, when you have a large animal encounter watch the trail for tracks. Moose and bear often walk on trails. You will likely see tracks and scat on the trail near where you see the animal.
Could be one a dees ...
I'm thinkin' it was one a dees, bacon-free:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose#mediaviewer/File:Mainstmoose.JPG
Make 'dat one a dees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose#mediaviewer/File:Mainstmoose.JPG
rocketsocks
06-24-2014, 05:42
Hey, at least it wasn't a Jersey hiker, or worse yet, driver. ;)
You got that right, if you can drive in NJ, you can drive anywhere in the world.
Deer Hunter
06-24-2014, 08:59
With those coordinants it was bigfoot...no doubt
Nah, I'm thinking it was a chupacabra.
It could have been a moose or a bear. Based on my experience, a moose will make lot of noise as they move away. They go crashing through the woods without being concerned about the noise they are making. One can often hear them for 100 yards or more. They break a lot of branches as they move through the woods.
In contrast, bears don't usually make as much noise. They slip through the woods without breaking off branches. Bears are amazingly fast when they want to be, but most of the time they don't run at their top speed. They just mosey into the deep woods and disappear. One will seldom hear a bear beyond 20 yards away.
In the future, when you have a large animal encounter watch the trail for tracks. Moose and bear often walk on trails. You will likely see tracks and scat on the trail near where you see the animal.
I just saw this response - thanks, Shutterbug. It may have been a bear. All I heard of it was the noise of it evidently waking and standing up from its sleep. No noise of crashing into the woods. I think, upon my retreat, it very likely just laid down and went back to sleep. That scenario, base on my faint visual and distinct auditory perception of its shape and size, fits moose, maybe deer. Possibility that it quietly retreated into the thick woods (I doubt this, b/c there was no noise at all), might fit bear.
I reckon most likely a groggy moose which, when I got away from it, just laid back down to sleep. It was dark and I was on a road, in a hurry to get to the base to meet my taxicab, so no good opportunity to check for tracks or scat. Did see a couple instances of moose scat on the southwestward reaches near the summit earlier - this animal was eastward maybe 2/3 miles from the summit.
Shutterbug
06-24-2014, 14:18
I just saw this response - thanks, Shutterbug. It may have been a bear. All I heard of it was the noise of it evidently waking and standing up from its sleep. No noise of crashing into the woods. I think, upon my retreat, it very likely just laid down and went back to sleep. That scenario, base on my faint visual and distinct auditory perception of its shape and size, fits moose, maybe deer. Possibility that it quietly retreated into the thick woods (I doubt this, b/c there was no noise at all), might fit bear.
I reckon most likely a groggy moose which, when I got away from it, just laid back down to sleep. It was dark and I was on a road, in a hurry to get to the base to meet my taxicab, so no good opportunity to check for tracks or scat. Did see a couple instances of moose scat on the southwestward reaches near the summit earlier - this animal was eastward maybe 2/3 miles from the summit.
You are probably right in thinking it was a bear. The bears I encounter often just go on doing what they were doing. The attached picture is one I encountered last summer on Mt Rainier. He just continued to eat for several minutes, then something spooked him. When he ran away, I was amazed at his speed. If he had run toward me that fast, I would not have been able to our run him. For a big animal, he ran really fast
You are probably right in thinking it was a bear. The bears I encounter often just go on doing what they were doing. The attached picture is one I encountered last summer on Mt Rainier. He just continued to eat for several minutes, then something spooked him. When he ran away, I was amazed at his speed. If he had run toward me that fast, I would not have been able to our run him. For a big animal, he ran really fast
It's size and shape seemed more likely a moose than a bear, but I'm not sure. In any event, there's a good chance I broke my four-year-plus chain of never a bear nor a moose nor a poisonous snake encountered in the wild. Just missed a moose on Cannon Mountain a few weeks ago, also, so maybe this is my year!
bamboo bob
06-25-2014, 13:38
Maybe one of these from my woods camera.27570
Shutterbug
06-25-2014, 14:34
It's size and shape seemed more likely a moose than a bear, but I'm not sure. In any event, there's a good chance I broke my four-year-plus chain of never a bear nor a moose nor a poisonous snake encountered in the wild. Just missed a moose on Cannon Mountain a few weeks ago, also, so maybe this is my year!
Do you make a lot of noise as you hike? Those who make noise won't see as much wildlife as those who hike quietly. Some people make enough noise with their hiking poles to alert wildlife.
I use hiking poles, but I try not to make noise with them. I wear FiveFinger Shoes which make no noise at all. I tie everything on my pack down so nothing is making noise. I see wildlife on almost every hike. We don't have moose in western Washington, but I frequently see bears, elk, deer, mountain goats, marmots, foxes, raccoons, pine martins and various other small animals. When I hike in Maine, I often see moose.
I can't help but get irritated at those who wear bells on their pack. I consider wildlife encounters to be a valuable part of the wilderness experience. Those bells spoil it for the one wearing the bells, and for everyone else on the trail.
Do you make a lot of noise as you hike? Those who make noise won't see as much wildlife as those who hike quietly. Some people make enough noise with their hiking poles to alert wildlife.
I think I make a lot of clacking with my TPs. My pack was making a lot of noise the other night going down the park road - don't think it usually does, though.
I've seen four porcupines, countless deer, lots of small rodents, numerous non-poisonous snakes. But no bear, maybe now one moose and no poisonous snakes. The TPs likely are a factor. I think I mostly hike in heavily trafficked areas, and seldom early in the am - those could be factors, too - though I hike often enough near dusk.
bamboo bob
06-25-2014, 14:57
You were in Vermont. It was a cow.
Thanks for the feedback, Shutterbug. I will attune my mind to a quieter hike, esp. with the trekking poles. We'll monitor for results. Also, I've been focussing on peakbagging the past few years. Will add in more lower-down, miles oriented hikes this year, on the AT and other trails. That may also change my experience. Want to do some river and brook hikes.
You were in Vermont. It was a cow.
Don't have a cow, man. :)
rocketsocks
06-25-2014, 19:44
Maybe one of these from my woods camera.27570
Looks like Kokopelli
27573
Looks like Kokopelli
27573
I was thinking Just Bill, who, startled from his slumber of an evening, might well be every bit as ferocious as any moose or bear. ...