Pictures Added Scary Moose, Bear Encounter Glacier 6/21
Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 4:55 pm
We decided to take a quick trip to Glacier to celebrate our anniversary. We wanted to hike and also see wildlife. The hikes were beautiful.
DSCF9938 by William Reinke, on Flickr
DSCF9932 by William Reinke, on Flickr
The wildlife, while not numerous, was up close and personal. It started with a short hike to a waterfall where a red fox was heading right towards us on the trail. Initially, it turned around but then it came back. We had no where to get off the trail but the fox decided it could get off and go around us, coming back down to the trail behind us. Then as we were going back, it reappeared as it apparently ran into more people. We backed up to a place where we could allow it to pass. It quickly ran by about five feet away from us. Then slowed to a trot as it continued on the trail.
Fox going around us after it left the trail
DSCF9953 by William Reinke, on Flickr
Fox trotting off after it ran by us
DSCF9954 by William Reinke, on Flickr
The next morning we headed out for a 3 1/2 mile loop hike before heading home. Early on we detoured down to look at the lake.
DSCF9961 by William Reinke, on Flickr
As we got back near the main trail, Karen, who was leading, stopped as she spotted a moose coming out of the willows. She said, "I don't like the way it is staring at us." Then, "Oh boy, he is not happy!" as it began shaking its head and stomping its front hooves. We pulled our bear spray out as the moose started moving in a zigzag fashion, but coming nearer to us. Bill had moved in front as Karen started backing away. The moose kept coming, still clearly agitated. At about 30 feet away Bill decided that was close enough and fired a quick squirt of bear spray. This caused the moose to turn and head off towards some willows on the other side of the trail. We thought that would be it, but not quite. It then reversed and came back across the trail. Fortunately, it did not come towards us but just crossed the trail and headed back to where it had come from initially.
It all happened so fast, Karen did not get a photo. We quickly got to the main trail and continued our hike away from the moose. With Karen in the lead she gasped and jumped about a foot in the air as a red squirrel ran across the trail in front of her. Bill had a laugh as she still had her bear spray drawn with the safety off ready to blast the squirrel . A few minutes later Karen stopped again and said she heard something. Bill was thinking she was still just hyper over the moose adventure. But then he heard it too. Karen then spotted something black moving through the trees. A black bear! Bill caught a glimpse as well. Out came his bear spray as Karen mentioned, "It's heading this way." There was quite a bit of brush hiding its movements but it soon popped its head out about 20 feet away. Fortunately, when it saw us, it turned and made its way back into the trees heading away from us. Wow! Two close encounters within about 10 minutes of each other.
We saw two fresh scat piles as we made our way around the loop. Karen had the bear spray out with the safety off the rest of the hike. When Bill saw the second pile of scat in a place of limited visibility, his bear spray came out too! The rest of the hike was uneventful though we did get a great look at a western tanager.
Upon reflection, we have seen at least a dozen moose while hiking and never had we seen one behave this way. They either just stared or moved away. We can only speculate what had this one so upset. Perhaps we had unknowingly passed him and then he felt threatened when we came back towards the main trail. We had heard people say that the moose were unpredictable but didn't take it all that seriously because we had never seen one show any alarm or aggression. Very glad we had the bear spray along. We always each carry a can when we hike, but this was the first time we ever used it. Didn't think it would be for a moose, but we will definitely be more wary of moose from now on!
DSCF9938 by William Reinke, on Flickr
DSCF9932 by William Reinke, on Flickr
The wildlife, while not numerous, was up close and personal. It started with a short hike to a waterfall where a red fox was heading right towards us on the trail. Initially, it turned around but then it came back. We had no where to get off the trail but the fox decided it could get off and go around us, coming back down to the trail behind us. Then as we were going back, it reappeared as it apparently ran into more people. We backed up to a place where we could allow it to pass. It quickly ran by about five feet away from us. Then slowed to a trot as it continued on the trail.
Fox going around us after it left the trail
DSCF9953 by William Reinke, on Flickr
Fox trotting off after it ran by us
DSCF9954 by William Reinke, on Flickr
The next morning we headed out for a 3 1/2 mile loop hike before heading home. Early on we detoured down to look at the lake.
DSCF9961 by William Reinke, on Flickr
As we got back near the main trail, Karen, who was leading, stopped as she spotted a moose coming out of the willows. She said, "I don't like the way it is staring at us." Then, "Oh boy, he is not happy!" as it began shaking its head and stomping its front hooves. We pulled our bear spray out as the moose started moving in a zigzag fashion, but coming nearer to us. Bill had moved in front as Karen started backing away. The moose kept coming, still clearly agitated. At about 30 feet away Bill decided that was close enough and fired a quick squirt of bear spray. This caused the moose to turn and head off towards some willows on the other side of the trail. We thought that would be it, but not quite. It then reversed and came back across the trail. Fortunately, it did not come towards us but just crossed the trail and headed back to where it had come from initially.
It all happened so fast, Karen did not get a photo. We quickly got to the main trail and continued our hike away from the moose. With Karen in the lead she gasped and jumped about a foot in the air as a red squirrel ran across the trail in front of her. Bill had a laugh as she still had her bear spray drawn with the safety off ready to blast the squirrel . A few minutes later Karen stopped again and said she heard something. Bill was thinking she was still just hyper over the moose adventure. But then he heard it too. Karen then spotted something black moving through the trees. A black bear! Bill caught a glimpse as well. Out came his bear spray as Karen mentioned, "It's heading this way." There was quite a bit of brush hiding its movements but it soon popped its head out about 20 feet away. Fortunately, when it saw us, it turned and made its way back into the trees heading away from us. Wow! Two close encounters within about 10 minutes of each other.
We saw two fresh scat piles as we made our way around the loop. Karen had the bear spray out with the safety off the rest of the hike. When Bill saw the second pile of scat in a place of limited visibility, his bear spray came out too! The rest of the hike was uneventful though we did get a great look at a western tanager.
Upon reflection, we have seen at least a dozen moose while hiking and never had we seen one behave this way. They either just stared or moved away. We can only speculate what had this one so upset. Perhaps we had unknowingly passed him and then he felt threatened when we came back towards the main trail. We had heard people say that the moose were unpredictable but didn't take it all that seriously because we had never seen one show any alarm or aggression. Very glad we had the bear spray along. We always each carry a can when we hike, but this was the first time we ever used it. Didn't think it would be for a moose, but we will definitely be more wary of moose from now on!