. . . story continued from yesterday:
So on Sunday evening, we went on the moose tour. We first passed a ski slope -- and climbing up it was a black bear!
From the bus, it looked like a little fuzzy dot making its way up the mountain. Thankfully, that was just about the right distance for my viewing comfort.
We proceeded along the highway and passed the Indian Head, New Hampshire's last remaining profile mountain after the demise of the Old Man.
We slowed down when we were approaching the various wallows by the side of the highway. Wallows are pools of mud and salt that is left over from the winter and washes to the side of the road during spring thaw. After a long, hard winter, the meese need to replenish their sodium levels and come to these mudpools to feed. It's best to look for meese at sunrise or dusk by the side of the highways.
We saw a scrawny female moose very intently licking up the salty mud at one of these pools. (She looked roughly like a donkey, similar to the one in this picture, only scrawnier).
After gazing at her for ten minutes or so, we decided to get out of the bus for a closer look. She began to leave, though very reluctantly. As soon as we made motions to board the bus, she returned to the wallow and continued to feed. After sundown, with Tony's spotlight, we managed to see a deer and a pair of other female meese.
Later we stopped at a small country store to fill up on snacks and fudge. While the door was open, in flew a cute little black bat!
The poor thing seemed kind of stressed out, frantically flapping its wings in search of the door. We left before the bat did.
That was a very exciting trip -- I hope that you will take the time someday to explore the treasures of the North Country!
