Wild animals love to wander outside their natural habitat, it’s like they’re wondering what’s beyond the greenery and the woods. Little do they know, they might bump into human territory or property. Thankfully, when there’s a surprise close encounter between humans and the wild, it is oftentimes, fascinatingly beautiful.
People who live in Anchorage, Alaska, can pretty much relate to this feeling. Just like what Roland Rydstrom had, one day when a family of moose decided to turn his garden into a nursery over the course of a few days.
They turned Roland’s backyard into their own little home and the poor human was helpless about it.
It was indeed a wild situation inside his turf.
He posted the hilarious pictures of the moose family on Facebook so that other residents in the area could have a laugh about it as well.
“I had a lot of yard work to do out back this weekend. But when the moose camp out and eat everything, you put those plans on hold,” explained Rydstrom.
Rydstrom though was fully aware that momma moose gave birth to two babies about twelve days prior.
However, he never expected to get to see them up close and personal in his own backyard.
Roland’s garden turned into a pantry when the hungry animals started to munch on his flowers, except for one…
The only ones that they didn’t touch were the marigolds. For some reason, the beautiful yellow flowers just weren’t very appetizing.
The begonias sure tasted extra savory to this family of moose.
After gorging themselves, the moose passed out on the ground in what Rydstrom refers to as a “begonia sugar coma”.
It was a heavy meal, so mama moose and her two babies decided to go for a nice long nap.
“I sat down to work, and fully expected the moose to walk away and they didn’t,” Rydstrom told The Dodo.
“They would just change positions and, as you can tell from the pictures, they just kind of moved around to meet the sun — the babies in particular.”
Rydstorm was forced to put his plans on his garden on temporary hold since the family of moose has decided to settle in for a few days.
However, he still did whatever he could to preserve his garden, which included making a sprint out to the yard to save one of his few remaining begonias when the animals were distracted.
“At one point, I decided to water since I couldn’t do anything else,” said Rydstrom. “When they returned, the kids had fun while mama was wondering what happened to the begonia she’d been eating earlier. I’d moved it to the table while they were gone.”
Unfortunately for Roland, all his efforts were put to waste because the moose were able to sniff and locate his begonias.
“Eventually she found it *and* the one closer to the back door on the shepherd’s hook. Mama moose 2, Roland 0,” he joked.
Luckily, Rydstrom was able to record some shenanigans that the unsuspecting moose did while on a “vacation” in his backyard.
The babies can be seen running around their new “nursery” and having tons of fun. They played in the sprinkler, ate some flowers, and just had an all-around amazing time. Meanwhile, the mom stood close by and supervised.
“They tasted everything on their way out, and do what babies do, putting everything in their mouth,” said Rydstrom.
For most people, having a close encounter with moose is rare, if not a once in a lifetime experience.
However, when you live in Alaska, wildlife and humans live in very close proximity to each other. It results in a lot of unexpected encounters, some exciting and some outright dangerous.
While this garden sighting turned out okay at the end, when it comes to moose, there is always some risk involved. Every year in the state of Alaska, moose wound around 5 to 10 people.
However, in Rydstrom’s case, it was his poor begonias that suffered the most. He watched from inside his house, admiring the beautiful animals as his garden was slowly eaten.
During these cases, especially when you’re at a close distance with some wild animals, it’s always best to stay calm and be in a safe place, somewhere out of their reach. But also, don’t forget to be ready with your camera to capture the moment.
Check Rydstrom’s Facebook post below for more photos of the moose family.
https://www.facebook.com/roland.rydstrom/posts/10159004548057994
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Source: Roland Rydstrom/The Dodo/How Stuff Works
