What the Walrus said . . .

Photos and Anecdotes from a vagabond!

Labrador at last!

I was up and out early this morning on the advice of a very wonderful man I met last night. His name is Sam Dempster, and he and his wife, Marjorie, own and operate the B&B I stayed in for the past two nights. Sam told me that I needed to be up early and gave me directions down Highway 432 to somewhere that I could find moose, possibly caribou. Thank you Sam . . . you were spot on! I found the first moose of the day five minutes outside of thier driveway . . . and eighteen more before 7 AM, along with twelve caribou!!

It is hard to photograph moose in the dark without a flash, especially when they start moving. The large one on the right appears to possibly be pregnant. Calfing season starts soon, so maybe when I return from Labrador I can see a baby moose next time!
Two more fairly young moose, both very alert to what I was doing . . . not too sure about that big eye that I was pointing at them. They lopped away shortly after I snapped this shot!
This moose is showing the side of most of the moose I saw this morning, the BACK SIDE!! As I discovered, moose do not like cars and run at the slightest threat. Sneaking up on a moose in a car is nearly impossible! If the moose do not shy away from the car, they shy away as soon as anyone steps out. The key seems to be the initial distance when the encounter starts and what the moose considers to be its comfort zone.

Caribou are almost as bad as moose when it comes to trying to photograph them. I saw a dozen, most of them as they ran into the woods and disappeared. I did finally find one that seemed to cooperate.

The problem with this particular caribou was that it was munching grass, and absolutely totally involved in munching grass. It did not run as I drove by, it did not run as I exited my car, or as I cautiously scooted around my car to get lined up for the photograph. It also did not look up . . . at all . . . and a photo of the caribou’s forehead was not what I wanted. So I called to it (munching noises), I whisted at it (more munching sounds), and I even tried clapping my hands (louder munching noises). Nothing was working . . . until I turned to walk away! It looked up and I swung around and got my shot!! I was getting played the whole time! LOL

Yet, I could not keep chasing moose and caribou all day! I needed to get back to the ferry terminal again to see if I was going to Labrador this morning. Where I stood, the sky was calmer and the winds had ramped down, so there was hope!

Arriving at the terminal, it was the circus I thought it would be! Having not moved anyone or anything for the previous three days, there was a large group waiting at the ferry ticket counter. Surprisingly, everyone was in good spirits, maybe because of the positive weather change, maybe because word was that the ferry had sailed from Labrador for Newfoundland, which ever it was . . . it made the waiting easier.

And . . . ultimately . . . we sailed!! 90 short minutes (and nine miles) after leaving the dock at St. Barbe, Newfoundland, I was driving off the ferry at Blanc Sablon, Quebec Province. Twenty miutes later I was entering Labrador. It felt amazing!! And it still feels amazing!!

My Subaru is still looking good! More stickers on the windows . . . now in search of a good one from Labrador!!

majik756

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