Close encounters of the moosely kind

Don't think I mentioned this yet, and just got the picture uploaded so...

The other day my mom called me upstairs because her dog was biting at her and growling and trying to show her something. She told me to see what he needed. I looked through the house, checked dad, checked for fires, nothing. Went back and reported it was nothing. The Wookie was not convinced, he sat beside her and growled. So she asked me to have him show me what it was.

I of course thought "yeah, right mom," but being the dutiful daughter I was called the Wookie and watched as he passed me and went off into the hall. He crept down the hall slowly, watching over his back to make sure that I was close at hand. Finally he paused just before entering the dining room and growled at the space by the china hutch.

I could hear sound outside then, sounded like the cats or neighbor dogs on the porch. Of course, this IS Alaska - could have been a bear just as easily, so I opened the door cautiously and peeked out.

Nothing.

I looked to the right toward the log garage. Nothing.
I looked to the left, down the porch back toward mom's room. Nothing.
I looked over across toward my brother's place. Nothing.
I heard sound toward the log garage. A low scrunch of compressing snow under something heavy.
I looked. Nothing.

I keep looking, perplexed now on where the source of the Wookies concerns is and, just like a cartoonist had drawn it up, this large moose head peeks around the corner of the house at me.

His eyes widened and he backpeddled, and I backpeddled, and he took off trotting into the driveway and I began to snicker. I watched him as he wandered toward my brother's place then went to report to mom what had got her dog so upset.

The moose was prolly a couple years old and had been walking around the house, had made it all the way around it with only mom's dog knowing we was being invaded, and eating the grass and stuff that grows along the perimeter of the building where the deep snow had not buried it.

Just another day in Alaska.

He was back yesterday out beyond the log garage, but the big dogs chased him off before I got my camera.