I love “Moose Monday.”
Most people have never seen a moose in the wild. I even know some wildlife photographers who have never seen a moose in the wild.
This photo was made in the Summer of 2019 during a group photography trip I organized with several of my friends. Some of those friends had never photographed moose before. I always tried hard to get my groups into a position where they could experience moose in the wild, close up and personal. This scene was a perfect success in that regard.
There were several moose hanging out together on this occasion, and these two young bulls moved towards one another and began rubbing heads together. While it’s impossible to know their motivations, I can speculate they were connected by having the same mother or by spending time together early in their life. The end result though was these two were showing a lot of affection towards one another and capturing this behavior with a camera is fairly rare.
When I made the photo, I assumed the moose on the right was a cow and perhaps the bull was it’s offspring. I only discovered my mistake when editing the shot, realizing the moose on the right was actually a young bull. Notice the stubby little antlers on it’s forehead.
I’ll never really know what this relationship is, but it’s clear the two were having a moment together that isn’t often seen by a photographer.
Behavioral photographs are the prime objective when it comes to wildlife. Mission accomplished in all regards here.
