Moosecapade 2022

A beautiful westside Moose

Every year, Caty and I go to Rocky Mountain National Park looking for baby Moose. Right after I got back from the Grand Teton/Yellowstone/Canada adventure, we went for a weekend to see what we could find. 

I have written about Moosecapade before, so I will spare you any history or Colorado Moose education. 

OK, a little education: our Moose are Shiras Moose, the smallest subspecies

Unfortunately, I am also going to spare you a lot of Moose photos. It's not that we didn't see Moose. We did. We saw about 36. That's lower than usual, but still no slouch.

Moose A5 has a new one this year

And, it's not that we didn't see any calves. We saw a few, but not as many as usual.

And, it's a cutie

It's just that we have seen and photographed so many Moose over the past few years, including some spectacular sightings.

 

This is from a couple of years ago

So, unless it's spectacular, it comes across as a little flat. This time, lots of the Moose were far away.

Distant Moose are fine if you have never seen one before, but I've seen hundreds

And, the light was relatively harsh. It just seemed that there weren't as many compelling photo ops. 

Most were still losing their winter coats

I am not sure if we just weren't feeling it after our big trip to Yellowstone. Or if the 2020 Troublesome Creek Fire damage was affecting the population. 

This is a sleek one

Our maybe we're just jaded.

Not too jaded; I can still enjoy a butterfly (this is an Anise Swallowtail)

And, quite frankly, I thought the bird photo opportunities were relatively sparse too.

CW: Tree Swallows, Mountain Chickadee, American Robin, White-crowned
Sparrow, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Lincoln's Sparrow

And, this time, we didn't see many Elk calves, like we usually do.

The best Elk calf and you can hardly see it

But, there were a few interesting moments -- and some didn't involve Moose.

There had been a fair amount of rain and the water was about as high as I've seen. So, that could have also affected Moose ...

This Moose crossed over the bridge instead of fording the stream as they usually do

... it sure affected ducks ...

Those Mallards are swimming across a paved trail!

Movin' East

Normally, we see most of our Moose on the west side of the Park. That's why we always stay in Grand Lake and spend most of time over there. Plus, it is far less crowded.

Often, it's just us and the Moose

But, in recent years, we've seen more and more Moose on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. There are usually some bulls that show up in the morning at Sheep Lakes, which I believe happened this year, as well. Just not when we were there.

Bull in Sheep's Lake, 2020

But, this time, we saw a cow, a yearling and a young bull at Sprague Lake, as well. 

The yearling; I didn't get a good shot of his mom

I've seen them there before, but never so many and so easily.

I think a couple of factors are at play here. First, Moose have been spreading across the state since their introduction in the late 1970s.

The Sprague Lake bull

Second, RMNP is overpopulated, so it's normal for them to seek new habitat.

And, finally the fire affected the west side, so it would make sense for Moose to move over to places where willow is more abundant.

A lot of food burned

Regardless, it's nice to see them on the east side, where they are more accessible in the seasons that Trail Ridge Road isn't open.

Sprague Lake

So, that was a plus. And, we enjoyed spending time with the little bull in a small pond adjacent to the big lake.

He just ate while people watched him 

Plus, there were some nice birds there, too.

Left, Wilson's Warbler; Right, Steller's Jay

Muskrat Love

Another plus was watching a couple of Muskrats in Beaver Pond.

A Muskrat pair

I have seen them in Beaver Pond once before and I've also seen Muskrats in Grand Teton, Alaska and multiple other places in Colorado, but it's always hard to get photos because they don't come out until dusk.

This was no exception, but I pushed it to get some shots.

You can see the webbed paws that are good for swimming

A medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America, Muskrats are found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitats. They spend most of their time in the water, and can swim under water for 12 to 17 minutes. Like seals and whales, Muskrats are less sensitive to the buildup of carbon dioxide than most other mammals. They can close off their ears to keep water out. They use their webbed hind feet for propulsion and their tail as a rudder, controlling the direction they swim in.

Some Muskrats I photographed a few years ago

They live in families, consisting of a male and female pair and their young. To protect themselves from the cold and predators, they build nests burrowed into the bank with an underwater entrance. At Beaver Pond, we were watching the pair (most likely a male and female) swimming to and from an undercut bank, undoubtedly the site of their burrow.

Swimming to and from the burrow

Muskrats feed mostly on cattail and other aquatic vegetation, but also eat small animals. The are closely related to Voles and Lemmings, but not Rats or, for that matter, Beavers, with which they share habitat and general appearance. They are often mistaken for Beavers, but they are much smaller (10 inches long to the Beaver's almost 3 feet of length -- both measures without the tail). Beaver tails are wide, flat and paddle-shaped, while Muskrats have long, skinny, scaly tails with flat sides.

THIS is a Beaver; Maroon Bells, 2014

You can usually see a Muskrat's whole body when it is swimming. With Beavers, you often see only their large wedge-shaped heads.

Mountie Hat; Photo: CBC

Because they often live in cold water, Muskrats have warm, water-resistant fur. In the early 20th century, Muskrat trapping became an important industry (although the fur was usually trimmed and dyed and sold as "Hudson Seal"). 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police winter hats are made from Muskrat fur.

We watched the swimming Muskrats until it was just too late to get any photos at all.

A Word About Timed Entry

As I have mentioned before, Rocky Mountain National Park has instituted a timed entry reservation system for the summer through the Elk rut in October.

For most of the Park, reservations are required between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. We always get reservations even though we always enter before 9:00. This is so we can leave and return without issue.

However, the Bear Lake Corridor of RMNP, which is the busiest section because of its beautiful scenery and multiple trailheads, has a separate reservation requirement and it is restricted between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. This makes getting in without a reservation very tricky.

Bear Lake

In our experience, even though the main Park reservations are timed, Rangers didn't seem to care what time you arrived. Not so for Bear Lake. You need to arrive within your window or they may nor let you in. We were late for ours, but because it was a new program, they let us in. If they hadn't we wouldn't have seen the Moose at Sprague Lake.

Sprague Lake Moose

I understand needing to manage the crowds (they have had restricted parking and shuttles for years), but spontaneity is right out the window. Generally, we just avoid Bear Lake, but it is nice to go sometimes. Campsite reservations include entry.

Sprague Lake

One More Really Cool Thing

The Moosecapade should really be called Coyotepalooza because the best part was watching a Coyote den. But, that's for next time.

Coyote pups!

Trip date: June 11-12, 2022