From a photographer’s perspective, my first encounter with an Alaskan Moose was far from ideal.  You see, we were on a train headed from Anchorage to Seward when someone hollered, “MOOSE”.

I grabbed my camera, dashed for the viewing platform, and captured this big boy as he was dashing for cover away from our noisy train.

The Alaska Moose, or Giant Moose, is one of the largest subspecies of moose, and can be found throughout most of Alaska and most of Western Yukon.  A male Alaska Moose can stand over 7 ft at the shoulder and can weigh over 1,400 lbs with antlers that on average have a span of over 6 ft. (Source: Wikipedia)

The males will shed their antlers in the winter, and each spring grow a new set.  As you can just about tell in my photograph, this bull has about a foot of growth on each of his new spring antlers.

While I would have rather had my camera on  a tripod with a 400mm lens, this first encounter with one of these majestic mammals was nonetheless memorable and exciting.

How about you?  Have you ever encountered an Alaskan Moose?

 
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