Some days you are the moose, some days you are the wolf
October 21, 2017 1:10 PM   Subscribe

Northern Ontario Moose vs Wolf. It begins with a serene autumn scene of a Moose standing alone in a still Northern Lake.
posted by saucysault (59 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
That was a very determined wolf.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:21 PM on October 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


#TeamMoose
posted by Fizz at 1:25 PM on October 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm surprised a single wolf would even attempt to bring down a full grown, seemingly healthy moose.
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:25 PM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]


Wow. That was cool.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 1:31 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Badass wolf. Also, kudos to the drone pilot!
posted by Malingering Hector at 1:38 PM on October 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


That was pretty incredible footage. It did look like both the wolf and the moose were once or twice distracted by the drone, though; makes me wonder how much the noise of the drone my have influenced the outcome of the interaction. Still, amazing footage. The drone pilot must have been thanking their lucky stars to catch that.
posted by biogeo at 1:50 PM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]


It did look like both the wolf and the moose were once or twice distracted by the drone,

Yeah, towards the end it looks like the wolf looked directly at the drone and is like, “Dude, WTF!?”
posted by Fizz at 1:52 PM on October 21, 2017 [11 favorites]


What happened at the end? Two wolves are waiting on the train tracks, then they get up and run toward the shore. Was that the plan? Force the moose to cross the lake to where your buddies are waiting to ambush a tired wet moose.
posted by adept256 at 2:41 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


At the end part that follows the two woofs down the train tracks and to the boat shed, i’m thinking “Shit, they have a boat!”
posted by D.C. at 2:42 PM on October 21, 2017 [25 favorites]


Yep. I thought for sure they were going to hotwire the SeaDoo and turn the tables.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:56 PM on October 21, 2017 [8 favorites]


You'd think Canadian animals would resolve their differences through reasonable conversation and parliamentary procedure.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:01 PM on October 21, 2017 [33 favorites]


I guess The Littlest Hobo has fallen on some lean times.

(Gorgeous footage!)
posted by maudlin at 3:03 PM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]


Seems like the jerk with the drone interfered. I felt like I was intruding the whole time I was watching that. I love wild life video but that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
posted by Increase at 3:05 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Seems like the jerk with the drone interfered. I felt like I was intruding the whole time I was watching that. I love wild life video but that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

if not for the drone, that wolf would still be swimming after that moose
posted by Sebmojo at 3:48 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yeah, towards the end it looks like the wolf looked directly at the drone and is like, “Dude, WTF!?”

I suspect it was more like "I wonder, is it edible? If so, is it easier than this fucking moose?"
posted by Samizdata at 3:52 PM on October 21, 2017 [16 favorites]


Seems like the jerk with the drone interfered. I felt like I was intruding the whole time I was watching that. I love wild life video but that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

if not for the drone, that wolf would still be swimming after that moose


I don't exactly get the feeling that this whole thing was planned.

Plus, without the drone, we wouldn't have seen it at all.
posted by Samizdata at 3:54 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Hey wolf,

Stay down!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:54 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm too sensitive and had to turn it off after the first attack. Do both of them survive alright?
posted by AFABulous at 4:07 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


That soundtrack tho.
posted by peeedro at 4:17 PM on October 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


they're all fine
posted by Sebmojo at 4:53 PM on October 21, 2017


I was put off by the Drone interfering.

Plus, without the drone, we wouldn't have seen it at all.

Why do we, as a species, feel so entitled to see and access everything, usually at the expense of what we're accessing?
posted by Dressed to Kill at 4:54 PM on October 21, 2017 [9 favorites]


I like how the moose decided to squat down lower, pushing the wolf underwater and forcing it to release the moose in order to breathe.

Around the middle of the chase that follows, I think the moose figured out the right depth to be at, where it could still walk but the wolf was forced to swim. And then the wolf realized what was going on, did the math, and quit.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 5:17 PM on October 21, 2017 [18 favorites]


Dashing through the snow, get the fuck out of my way...

I'll always bet on the moose against a lone wolf.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 5:26 PM on October 21, 2017 [11 favorites]


Yeah, I was wondering what the wolf's game plan was. If the moose was brought down in the water it would be impossible to eat. And that lake has too much water to make moose stew.
posted by saucysault at 5:29 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]


If I told you the Great Barrier Reef was dying 200 years ago, you'd probably think that's great because all you know about reefs is that they cause shipwrecks. But since you've seen it, and it's pretty amazing, you're probably as heartbroken as I am. Everyone needs to see it for this reason. I really want to share it with you guys before it's gone, but you can't all come! That would wreck it even faster.

We used to shoot things and put them in museums so everyone can see them. Now we can have cameras that look like every other pebble on the beach. This drone thing is on the happier end of that spectrum without being the perfect ideal. I saw that wolf turn around he definitely saw that weird bird. Did they get spooked? I can't say.

The answer is silent invisible camera drones. The question is do you want 100% non-intrusive sharing of nature, at the expense of the total fucking nightmare dystopia that is silent invisible camera drones. We're probably going to get the drones anyhow.

maybe people already have the drones! I'm never leaving the house goodbye world.
posted by adept256 at 5:32 PM on October 21, 2017 [15 favorites]


So was that moose looking fairly old to anyone else? I am not sure of their natural coloring, but I thought it looked a bit grizzled.

I assume the wolf's plan, such as it was, was to get the moose to make the tactical error of trying to flee on land, where the wolf's pals await.
posted by maxwelton at 7:10 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


That soundtrack did not belong.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:52 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]


Why do we, as a species, feel so entitled to see and access everything, usually at the expense of what we're accessing?

In theory, that's a perk of being the apex tool using species on this planet?

And, yeah, the moose both looked old (-1 for the lack of a rack) and -2 on the soundtrack.
posted by Samizdata at 7:55 PM on October 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


I thought it was a cow moose because it had no rack.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:11 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


I was rooting for the moose, until the shot of the other wolves on the train tracks. I imagined a whole story, despondent starving family, helpless parent, a promise to do something, a last ditch desperate attempt at a crazy plan to get a Whole Moose! out of the middle of the fucking Lake! and come through for the family. Watching, hopeful. And then I felt bad for them.
posted by ctmf at 8:55 PM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]


What happened at the end? Two wolves are waiting on the train tracks, then they get up and run toward the shore. Was that the plan?

The drone's battery ran low. Wolves always have a plan.
posted by Chuckles at 8:56 PM on October 21, 2017


I imagined a whole story, despondent starving family, helpless parent, a promise to do something, a last ditch desperate attempt at a crazy plan to get a Whole Moose! out of the middle of the fucking Lake! and come through for the family. Watching, hopeful. And then I felt bad for them.

Nature! Your death is feeding some hungry thing. Round and round, turn the wheel.

On the one hand, I didn't want to see the moose die, because they are *fucking* magnificent, if mean as fuck and America has too few wild megafauna (such as they are) left. And at the same time, I did not want the wolf to go hungry. For largely the same reasons.

This was a neat video. That wolf is fortunate he wasn't stomped into paste.*

my buddies and I were on a lonely highway in northern MN in February when we encountered two moose on the road. My friend had trouble finding reverse and one of the moose charged the Sirocco and then stood on the hood, snorting at the windshield. All 4 of us teenaged punk assed kids were shitting ourselves - that thing probably outweighed the car and us, and it certainly out-meaned us.

He finally got it into reverse and backed the fuck up. The moose followed for a bit, but gave up quickly. The hood was caved in and neatly formed the shape of the air intake/filter. We found another way to Eveleth. Don't fuck with mooseses.

posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:11 PM on October 21, 2017 [11 favorites]


Anything about moose(s?) makes me tear up/smile/feel awestruck. This was awesome!

I'm Australian yet somehow have been lucky enough to have ventured out into Boundary Waters, MN last year. The most beautiful moment of my life was when, after seeing moose tracks on our portage, we paddled around a bend and saw a moose cow n calf standing calmly in the shallow waters. We just floated quietly, and gazed at them for five or more minutes. The cow gazed back but looked ominous and vigilant with her young around, so we gently paddled away. But boy, are they the most incredible creatures.
posted by honey-barbara at 11:03 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


#i’mwithlobo
posted by New Frontier at 11:55 PM on October 21, 2017


"By what right does the Wolf judge the Moose?"
posted by stifford at 12:46 AM on October 22, 2017


Why do we, as a species, feel so entitled to see and access everything, usually at the expense of what we're accessing?

Thumbs? I'm still reserving judgment on whether they're more trouble than they're worth.
posted by mikelieman at 1:24 AM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]


I for one would like to express my appreciation for everybody's restraint, and hope that all your sisters are in good health.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:56 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


Drone noise, drone noise, drone noise.
posted by pracowity at 2:57 AM on October 22, 2017


Why do we, as a species, feel so entitled to see and access everything, usually at the expense of what we're accessing?

There is some very high-order Metafiltering in this thread.
posted by Sebmojo at 5:00 AM on October 22, 2017 [7 favorites]


Don't fuck with mooseses.

These two assholes sure are lucky they were dealt Her Majesty’s justice in the safety of a courtroom instead of being dealt some moose bush justice, is all I’m sayin’:

2 moose riders fined $4,000 for harassing wildlife in northern B.C. lake
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:22 AM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]


In the grand scheme of things creating disturbances in the lives of wolves and meeses, I think drone cameras are way, way down on the list.
posted by drlith at 6:40 AM on October 22, 2017 [8 favorites]


I can imagine that conversation between the other wolf being awkward. "And where were you while I was being kicked around by that moose? We both said we were going in after it!"
posted by slimepuppy at 7:43 AM on October 22, 2017 [5 favorites]


I'm okay with the moose not dying
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:19 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


Dashing through the snow, get the fuck out of my way...

I'll always bet on the moose against a lone wolf.


I've come face-to-face like that once, and holy shit is it something.

When I was maybe 12 or 13 we were at my grandparents' camp, which was a proper bush camp in the sense you had to boat in and there was no hydro or running water. So over the years we'd had plenty of bear/moose sightings, but usually it was at a distance as we spotted on swimming across the lake.

The camp cabin and the sauna outbuilding sat in a small clearing next to the lake. The bush behind it sloped upwards over to another lake.

One afternoon, we were all sitting around outside when there was this distant crackle of breaking branches from up the hill. It got closer and closer, and this...huffing, puffing and grunting sound began to accompany it. This is when everyone stood up like "What...IS that?"

It gets even louder and then, of the bush, crashes this full-grown bull moose, obviously making a beeline for the water. Or mooseline in this instance.

Anyway.

This big guy pulls up short, confronted with the spectacle of six human beings in various states of losing their shit.

Me: [at my brother who was standing between the moose and the water, not 25 yards away] "GET AWAY FROM THERE!!!

Mom: [at my father] "Hon! WHERE'S THE CAMERA???"

My grandparents: [Not sure. They're shouting a bunch of stuff in Finnish at one another - knowing them, it was probably "I'm getting my rifle!" and "Oh no you're not!"]

The moose does an about face (a bit of a process), deciding that we're clearly assholes and this is not the time nor place for a swim, and goes crashing back into the bush from whence he came.

But man, it was impressive.

#teammoose 4eva, but you can't blame a wolf for tryin'.

Kinda related:

Wolf Puppies Are Adorable. Then Comes the Call of the Wild.


NICOLET, Quebec — I’m sitting in an outdoor pen with four puppies chewing my fingers, biting my hat and hair, peeing all over me in their excitement.

At eight weeks old, they are two feet from nose to tail and must weigh seven or eight pounds. They growl and snap over possession of a much-chewed piece of deer skin. They lick my face like I’m a long-lost friend, or a newfound toy. They are just like dogs, but not quite. They are wolves.

When they are full-grown at around 100 pounds, their jaws will be strong enough to crack moose bones. But because these wolves have been around humans since they were blind, deaf and unable to stand, they will still allow people to be near them, to do veterinary exams, to scratch them behind the ears — if all goes well.

posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:04 AM on October 22, 2017 [8 favorites]


Either the moose dies or the wolf goes hungry. For a lone wolf to go after a moose in a lake, it had to have been pretty desperate.

#TeamAmbivalence, #TeamRedOfToothAndClaw, #TeamNoodlesForAll

And the drone did interfere a bit, but the wolf was losing steam before he looked at the drone and broke off.

Both animals at different points did give very WTF? looks at the drone.

At the beginning I thought the moose had drowned the wolf and was just rage-stomping its corpse until it turned and I saw the moose still locked on.
posted by lon_star at 11:34 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


Man that is one tenacious wolf though.

I wonder if the moose was in the water because of the wolf to begin with, if they were trying to out-wait each other and the wolf got impatient.
posted by vignettist at 12:17 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


Team wolf.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:59 PM on October 22, 2017 [5 favorites]


Team wolf.
posted by Wolfdog


Seems legit.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:53 PM on October 22, 2017 [5 favorites]


Maybe the wolves have already adapted, and know a hovering drone means dinner is nearby. (In which case the pup's look back was more "what else is on the menu, this steak is too tough.")
posted by maxwelton at 4:32 PM on October 22, 2017


Interestingly, there's a tapeworm that depends on wolves and moose. The moose will ingest tapeworm eggs from water which develop into cysts in their lungs. Weakened moose can get brought down by wolves which eat the cysts, giving the wolves tapeworms, and then they shit out tapeworm eggs that end up in the water...
posted by plinth at 6:42 PM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]


I think I was about 6 when my parents took me camping in the Grand Tetons. Out hiking one day, we came across a moose. My dad got my mother and I behind a tree, checked the breeze to make sure we were downwind so the moose wouldn't be alarmed by our scent, and then, camera in hand, he very slowly and quietly started mooving towards the moose, sneaking from behind tree to tree to stay out of sight and always mindful of staying downwind as the breeze shifted. He got close enough to get a great shot, and I got to see a wild moose and learned the concept of staying downwind from large beasts.

#TeamMoose
posted by homunculus at 8:33 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


Both animals at different points did give very WTF? looks at the drone.

It's like when you're trying to eat your neighbor, and there's this UFO watching
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:55 PM on October 22, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm okay with the moose not dying

Good, because that's the moose that's gonna fly through your windshield killing everyone onboard.

And then the wolves will come.

#spoileralert
posted by Sys Rq at 2:11 AM on October 23, 2017 [3 favorites]


It's a ninja moose?
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:26 AM on October 23, 2017


Vampire. They only come out at night.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:44 AM on October 23, 2017


FUUUUUUUUUUUUU! I HATE that!
posted by Samizdata at 1:11 PM on October 23, 2017


You know, the whole neighbor munching/UFO thing.
posted by Samizdata at 1:17 PM on October 23, 2017




Now the moose are popping up everywhere in my news feeds!

Moose whisperer: Man pats 'friendly' moose in North Tetagouche

"I wanted to get a selfie with the moose" he said.

This man...he is not smart. He's just lucky as hell the moose didn't startle for any reason.

Otherwise, he could have ended up like this lawnmower...except the human body is squishier.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:29 PM on October 24, 2017


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