5/28/02
E-mail from Elizabeth
and Mary Beth:
Around 8:30 pm on Memorial Day we saw THREE
moose cross Route 28, just about a mile south of Mason Lake. If
anyone is traveling this road at dusk they should drive with extreme caution.
We put our hazard lights on immediately after stopping on the road shoulder
so that other on-coming cars got a chance to safely slow down to take
a look too. It was a sight to see!! It looked to be a cow moose
with a juvenile (last years calf).....followed by another moose.....not
sure if that last one was a cow or a bull...it was getting pretty dark by
then!
9/19/02
E-mail from
Sharon Stillwagon:
I'm happy to see that there are fellow Adirondack Moose supporters
besides myself here in New York. Well much to my surprise, I ran into a
huge bull moose on a trail just south of the Keene Valley at the base of
Dix Mt. Saturday, 9/14/02. He was absolutely gigantic with about a 4 ft.
rack, and he was standing on the trail about 15 ft. ahead of us. I was so
excited because I have this thing for moose, and he was my first encounter.
Although being in the woods about 4 miles from the nearest road did make
me slightly nervous at the time, we just left him alone and turned back on
the trail. I'm really excited to hear that the moose population is growing,
and that Speculator is the moose capital of the Adirondacks because I often
drive through there. Hopefully this will be the beginning of many moose encounters
in the Adirondacks, but until then at least I have a great memory of one.
9/30/02
E-mail from Andrew Misura:
I saw a moose on Sept. 30 on dairy Hill rd. in the town of Norway.
It was a cow and she was pounding the crap out of a 4 foot high stuffed
bear that the road construction crew left leaning against a utility pole.
She didn't stop until she knocked all the stuffing out of it. This attack
went on for probably 5 minutes. It was awesome.
(NOTE) Norway is just outside of the Adirondack
Park in Herkimer County north of Herkimer and Little Falls, NY. Remember
how violent they can be when stressed by a situation..........Ask anyone
that has lived in Alaska.
10/7/02
E-mail from Ken Mcmullin:
Just came across your sight while researching info on
Adirondack moose. This past weekend I saw a nice size younger Bull Moose
just outside of Forestport going toward North Lake on the North Lake road.
I have been going to this area for the past 25 years and never thought I
would ever see Moose move into the area. It was a great experience it was
just after dark when the Bull crossed the road right in front of me. Take
care and Love your sight.
NOTE: This is one of the Hot Spots for
moose sightings. DEC has relocated several animals from urban settings
to the Honnedaga Lake area which is adjacent to North Lake. The Moose
actively travel between this area to Perkins Clearing (our area) and Moose
River Plains. They have followed the movement by radio collar signals
that were placed on the moose before release. However, they eventually
always return to their original area.
10/12/02
The Russos' are visiting the area in their motor home for fall
foliage season and told us that they encountered a bull moose crossing
Route 30 heading toward the lake . They were in for dinner tonight
and said the event took place just after dark last night, about 2 miles
north of the Inn. That area, near Birch Hill Estates, has had a fair
share of sightings over the years. Click on the Indian Lake Moose
link below.
10/23/02
Moose on loose again in the state
Returning
after 119-year absence, up to 200 now make New York home
By SEANNA ADCOX, Associated Press. First published: Wednesday, October 23, 2002
ALBANY -- After disappearing
from New York for more than a century, moose are slowly repopulating the
Adirondacks and venturing to other parts of the state.
Uncontrolled hunting in the 1800s nearly wiped out the half-ton herbivores
in the Northeast. As the continent's largest wild animal, moose have few
predators other than humans.
"As people moved into the Adirondacks, they just shot every one they
saw and ate them," said Alan Hicks, who studies moose for the state Department
of Environmental Conservation.
Chased out of New York, moose headed for New England. Despite dwindling
numbers, they never completely left Maine. They returned to New Hampshire
and Vermont in the 1960s and, after generations of migration, reappeared
full-time in New York on June 25, 1980, 119 years after the last confirmed
sighting, Hicks said.
New York's moose population has grown from half a dozen in 1980 to an
estimated 100 to 200 in 2002. Moose live mainly in the Adirondacks, though
startled New Yorkers have spotted them in Albany and as far west as Rochester,
Hicks said.
Outside the Adirondacks, moose are most likely seen in summer, when
wayward yearlings leave their mothers. Inside the 6 million-acre park, the
peak viewing season is late September to mid-October, when "males are looking
for females and wandering all over the place," Hicks said.
State officials and environmental advocates applaud any species returning
to its natural habitat, but don't plan to aid moose restoration.
"Nature appears to be taking charge ... without our assistance," said
Neil Woodworth of the Adirondack Mountain Club.
"People are concerned that a large-scale program might increase their
population too much. There are worries about car-animal collisions. It's
one thing to hit a deer. It's quite another thing to hit a moose."
An adult, male moose can weigh up to 1,400 pounds and stand six feet
tall from hoof to shoulder.
Between 1990 and 2000, the last year numbers are available, 20 moose
died on New York's roads. No human died in the collisions. Nationally, fewer
than 1 percent of car-moose accidents result in human fatalities.
In neighboring Vermont, with a moose population around 4,000, between
150 and 200 moose are hit and killed each year. Since 1985, 10 motorists
have died.
Maine, home to nearly 30,000 moose, averages 700 crashes and two to
three human deaths each year, according to the Maine Department of Inland
Fisheries & Wildlife.
Hunting moose remains illegal in New York. Limited hunting
helps regulate New England's moose population. Maine started to allow
hunting again in 1980 and has issued 3000 permits annually since 1999,
making the state a vacation destination for hunters. Vermont, which
reinstated the sport in 1993 allows hunters to kill 365 moose during a
four day season each October.
11/19/02
E-mail from Dean
Nervik:
Tonight, on the way home from Indian Lake to Speculator
on Route 30, I just missed 2 galloping moose that almost became hood ornaments
on my truck. The location was .3 mile south of the Jessup River. I
took my digital camera out, and took pictures of the foot prints. Here they
are!
The second picture was taken with a pack of gum next to it. They
were moving across the road from the east side to the west side.
The next morning around 8 am, THERE THEY WERE AGAIN!!!
and still at the same location (Between Route 30 mile markers 1324 and 1325)
on the east side of the road, just standing there looking at me, waiting
to get their pictures taken because they were in such a hurry yesterday. I
couldn't believe how close the cow let me get to take these pictures. I
stayed very close to my truck, though. The juvenile led the way into
the woods to browse. I pulled up along side them and took pictures of
them stripping bark from a soft maple tree. You can see that tree from the
shoulder of the road just a few feet into the woods. After awhile they just
sauntered deeper into the woods out of sight.
