So, not Bullwinkle and Rocky, but … this morning…

Now … I have never seen a moose on my property or on the state land. I have seen elk and I know there is an elk herd that moves through regularly.

So, I jumped to the conclusion that this was an elk … gah!!

Emmett had gone down the ridge after a squirrel (more on them later) and then looked toward the moose and did a kind of jump-fake run. I hadn’t seen the moose yet, but was concerned maybe a skunk or bear or ??? I called him and he came – YEA!

THEN, I saw the moose. But, I thought elk and I was a bit excited because I didn’t want Emmett going back out there and I only had my phone AND it was big, even if it was some distance away from us.

Took my photo, got us home and then cropped and enlarged…

I still had elk on the brain and posted to Instagram as elk. But just after I hit send, I finally woke up and noted that the antlers were wrong and the nose and the shape … MOOSE! Wow. Embarrassing mis-identification, but WOW!!!

Exciting morning outing.

Squirrels. I would not be writing about the squirrels except that I wanted to title this post “Moose and Squirrel”, but anyway, the squirrels are a bit of an annoyance. There seem to be more than usual and they are noisy, drive Emmett bonkers and make a mess under the trees. Neighbor Mike will concur if he reads this :)

This is just a small sample of the mess they make. Multiply that by 20 or more. And those bits are sharp as well as unsightly.

I have turned it into a training game for Emmett, though. If he spots one and then sits at the slider, I allow him out for the chase. He is a smart cookie and has figured out the sit, although I have observed that his bottom is nearly off the floor … still, SQUIRREL!! … so I give it to him.

And we are having lovely weather for going outside: no smoke, sunshine, mild temperatures: my favorite!

Tomatoes and basil from the front porch garden!

AND, it is almost Friday!

Moose and Squirrel(s) and all kinds of fun here – Happy Thursday!