Mooses by Ted Hughes

The goofy Moose, the walking house-frame, Is lost In the forest. He bumps, he blunders, he stands. With massy bony thoughts sticking out near his ears – Reaching out palm upwards, to catch whatever might be falling from heaven – He tries to think, Leaning their huge weight On the lectern of his front legs. He can’t find the world! Where did it go? What does a world look like? The Moose Crashes on, and crashes into a lake, and stares at the mountain and cries: ‘Where do I belong? This is no place!’ He turns dragging half the lake out after him And charges the cackling underbrush – He meets another Moose He stares, he thinks: ‘It’s only a mirror!’ ‘Where is the world?’ he groans. ‘O my lost world! And why am I so ugly? And why am I so far away from my feet?’ He weeps. Hopeless drops drip from his droopy lips. The other Moose just stands there doing the same. Two dopes of the deep woods. Analysis The goofy Moose, the walking house-frame, Is lost In the forest. He bumps, he blunders, he stands.

from the Nature Conservancy: how to help moose

Restoring Moose Habitat The Collaborative has a clear plan for improving moose habitat. “Moose have to have two things: good forage and good cover,” says Mike Schrage, wildlife biologist for the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Forage can be improved by timber harvest, fire, or by cutting brush in overgrown open areas. The Collaborative is working to clear brush from approximately 1,500 acres to promote the growth of low shrubs suitable for moose to browse Chris Dunham, forest manager for The Nature Conservancy, describes the brush saws used as “giant weed whackers” capable of mowing down brush that has grown taller than a moose can reach. Heavy equipment is also being used to shear brush in winter when the ground is frozen. The result of all the brush work is manna for moose. “The cleared areas will be full of nice fresh moose food,” said Dunham. Another 3,000 acres will be both cleared of brush and then planted with trees needed by moose for cover. In all, approximately 2.5 million trees will be planted, mostly white pine and white spruce, but also some white cedar and red oak. Moose need these trees for shade from the summer heat and as shelter in the harsh winter. Wire enclosures and bud caps protect the seedlings from browsing by deer and other animals. Of course, years must pass before moose can benefit from newly planted trees, but tree plantings and brush removal will eventually create a patchwork of habitats needed by moose for cover and forage.

Bill Bryson

“No less pertinent is that there is just something deeply and unquestionably wrong about killing an animal that is so sweetly and dopily unassuming as a moose. I could have slain this one with a slingshot, with a rock or stick—with a folded newspaper, I’d almost bet.” ―

Maple Creemee

When it comes to featuring local products, Vermont has it made with the Maple Creemee, a swirling tower of maple-flavored soft serve piled high upon a sugar or waffle cone. And while no one is quite clear where and when the term creemee (alternately creamee) came about, the why is apparent upon first lick. The creemee is the product of Vermont’s robust dairy and maple syrup industries. In addition to finding the frozen treat at shops throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, diners can also sample creemees straight from the source at farmsteads and creameries. Like most soft serve, creemees are lower in fat than traditional ice cream (tapping out at six percent milk fat where ice cream can hit up to 18 percent). During the cooling process, creemees also trap more air than ice cream, turning them into frozen delights that are simultaneously light and rich. The melty mountains are usually served throughout the summer at stands, festivals, and shops alongside other local products such as maple syrup and fresh-made butter and cheese. Diners looking for a double whammy of New England delights can look for maple creemees sandwiched between a sliced apple cider doughnut. On the simpler side, some cones come sprinkled with maple-sugar dust or maple toffee-style chunks.

Moose in the Morning by May Sarton

Oh wild and gentle beast, Immense antlered shape, This morning in the meadow! Like something ancient, lost And found now, promise kept, Emerging from the shadow, Emerging while I slept— Wilderness and escape! You set me free to shirk The day's demanding work And cast my guilt away. You make a truant of me This moose-enchanted day When all I can is see, When all I am is this Astonishment and bliss. "Moose in the Morning" by May Sarton, from Collected Poems. © Norton, 1993. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

A Use For A Moose By Shel Silverstein

The antlers of a standing moose, As everybody knows, Are just the perfect place to hang Your wet and drippy clothes. It’s quick and cheap, but I must say I’ve lost a lot of clothes that way.

Bull Moose by Aiden Nowlan

Down from the purple mist of trees on the mountain,
lurching through forests of white spruce and cedar,
stumbling through tamarack swamps,
came the bull moose
to be stopped at last by a pole-fenced pasture.

Too tired to turn or, perhaps, aware
there was no place left to go, he stood with the cattle.
They, scenting the musk of death, seeing his great head
like the ritual mask of a blood god, moved to the other end
of the field, and waited.

The neighbours heard of it, and by afternoon
cars lined the road. The children teased him
with alder switches and he gazed at them
like an old, tolerant collie. The woman asked
if he could have escaped from a Fair.

The oldest man in the parish remembered seeing
a gelded moose yoked with an ox for plowing.
The young men snickered and tried to pour beer
down his throat, while their girl friends took their pictures.

And the bull moose let them stroke his tick-ravaged flanks,
let them pry open his jaws with bottles, let a giggling girl
plant a little purple cap
of thistles on his head.

When the wardens came, everyone agreed it was a shame
to shoot anything so shaggy and cuddlesome.
He looked like the kind of pet
women put to bed with their sons.

So they held their fire. But just as the sun dropped in the river
the bull moose gathered his strength
like a scaffolded king, straightened and lifted his horns
so that even the wardens backed away as they raised their rifles.

When he roared, people ran to their cars. All the young men
leaned on their automobile horns as he toppled.