Mrs. Bullwinkle and family

At daylight yesterday morning I looked out the front window to see a very large moose making a beeline for the apple tree.  Her calf and one other moose were lingering in the woods waiting for their chance at the tasty fruit tree.

I tried yelling at it to chase it away.  Pounding.  Making as loud a noise as I could.

Maggie barked once and said, "They're too big for me.  I'm not going down there to chase them away".

It was early in the morning.  Very early.  Retired Mountain Man was still snoozing away in the bedroom, but not for long.  I said, "You have to do something or we won't have any branches left on our apple tree".

Mrs. Bullwinkle eating my apple tree!

He jumped out of bed and grabbed his shotgun.  Then he ran to the front window, opened it, and fired a shot above the moose.  

Kaboom!

Just let me tell you I had my ears plugged with my fingers.  Firing a shotgun out the window of your living room makes a VERY loud noise.

Well, it didn't even phase the Mrs. Bullwinkle.  She never even turned her head.  She just kept eating my fruit tree.

Kaboom!

Kaboom!

She finally ran back into the woods.



We thought that took care of the problem.  Later in the day we had a Krewe Band practice for a couple of hours and had a great time playing some tunes.  After practice was over we ate lots of very tasty appetizers and topped it off with homemade pizza.  The Krewe Band knows how to hold a practice session.



It had started raining about the time our practice began.  Pouring rain for the next four or five hours.  That means the dogs sleep inside - with us.  Shortly after we went to bed, our outdoor motion sensor light came on.  Something was moving out there and it wasn't the dogs.  They were with us.

Then Maggie started barking so I looked out the window and there was the moose.   Once again they were making a beeline for the apple tree.  I only have one apple tree and I really prefer to prune it myself.

It is dark. Really dark. No moonlight.  Retired Mountain Man got out the shotgun again and I got the flashlight so he could see where to shoot. The moose was standing between our two satellite dishes, munching on the tree.  The calf was on the other side. 

Retired Mountain Man points the shotgun out the window.  I shine the flashlight on the moose (and plug one ear with my finger).  Kaboom!  Kaboom!  They didn't even look our way.  Munch, munch, munch. One more loud shotgun blast!  Kaboom!  They just kept on eating.  RMM was out of shotgun shells and had to reload.  (I went to get ear plugs)

Meanwhile,the dogs are terrified.  Mollie has never liked guns and always heads for the basement when she sees us get out a gun.  This is a new experience for Maggie. 

Three more loud shotgun blasts - Kaboom!  Kaboom!  Kaboom! The Bullwinkle Clan finally starts moving towards the grape arbor and the barn and out of the yard.  We have convinced them to leave. 

Now it's time to find the dogs.  I start calling for them.  Mollie is hiding in the pantry because the basement door was closed.  I can't find Maggie.  I thought, well, maybe she darted out the front door.  I open the front door and call for her over and over.  No Maggie.

Retired Mountain Man yells, "She's in the bedroom.  Underneath the bed".  Maggie had crawled so far under the bed that she was stuck and couldn't get out.  All we could see of her was the very end of her tail.

RMM had to grab her and pull her out from under the bed.  She still had a very concerned look in her eyes and we had to reassure her that he was not going to shoot anymore.

That should have been the end of the Bullwinkle Clan visit, but it wasn't.  When I got up this morning, they were back!

Get the shotgun!