Moose

[KGAINES]

I got this e-mail, it says its been around for a while but this is the first time I have seen it.

I don't know if its real or not.

 

 

 

 

 

Moose logging story

 

Lew and the rest of the gang-- We had been trying to keep this under

wraps as we knew this would happen once folks found out that with some

effort you can train moose to harness. Once this picture got out, it's

been E-mailed around like crazy but no one has bothered to fill in the

rest of the story so before any rampant rumors get going, I better

write down what I know. I folks want to extrapolate on that, then Lord

only knows where this picture and story will end up.

 

The man in the picture is Jacques Leroux who lives up near Escourt

Station and has always had work horses, first for actual work and then

for show at Maine's' many summer fairs.

 

I think he had two matched pairs, one Clydesdales and the other Belgiums.

He would turn them out to pasture each morning and then work them in the

afternoon dragging the sled around the fields.

 

Three springs ago, he noticed a female moose coming to the pasture and

helping herself of the hay and what grain the work horses didn't pick

up off the ground. Jacques said he could get within 10 feet of the

moose before it would turn and move off.

 

Two springs ago, the moose foaled(?) at the edge of the work horse

pasture and upon getting to it's feet had not only the mother in

attendance but the four horses. The young moose grew up around the

horses and each afternoon when Mr. Leroux took the teams for their

daily exercise the yearling moose would trail along the entire route

next to the near horse.

 

At some point, the yearling got so accustomed to Mr. Leroux that,

after he had brushed each horse after a workout, he started brushing

down the moose. The moose tolerated this quite well so Mr. Leroux started draping

harness parts over the yearling to see how he would tolerate these

objects. The yearling was soon harness broken and now came the

question of what could you do with a harness broke moose.

 

As you may or may not know, a great deal of Maine is being bought up

by folks "from away" and some of them understand principles of forest

management. Well the folks buying small parcels of land up in the area

of the Allagash have it in their mind that they don't want big skidders

and processors and forwarders on their small wood lots.

 

 

 

Enter Mr. Leroux with his teams of horses.

Every morning, when Mr.. Leroux loaded the teams into the horse

trailer to go off to the days job, the yearling moose got quite riled

up and one day loaded himself right into the trailer with the horses.

At the job site, Jacques unloaded the horses and as the moose stayed

right with them, he would take the Clydesdales and his brother Gaston

would take the Belgians and off into the woods they would go with the

moose trailing behind. They would put the harness on the moose in case

they encountered someone who they could kid with the explanation that

the moose was a spare in case something happened to one of the horses.

 

The work required them to skid cut, limbed and topped stems to the

landing where the stems could be loaded onto a truck for the pulp

mill.

 

All morning long the two brothers brought out twitch after twitch of

stems with the moose following the Belgian team for the most part. At

lunch break Jacques had the bright idea of putting trace chains and a

whiffle tree on the moose's harness and all afternoon the moose went

back and forth following the Belgians in and out of the woods dragging

his whiffletree along the ground. As there were no stumps in the skid

trail, the whiffle tree never hung up on anything and that first day

in harness went great.

 

So next day, they hitched on first a small stem and the moose brought it

out just fine following the Belgians.

 

Mr. Leroux told me they were up to four small stems now and the moose

was doing just great. He cautioned however that there were a few

problems with using a bull moose. Come June, when the new antlers

start, the new bone is "in velvet" and must itch like crazy as the

moose stops every once in awhile and rubs his rack against just about

anything to appease the itch. Once, before the brothers learned to tie

him of by himself while they had lunch, moose was rubbing his antlers

against the hame on the Clydesdale called Jack and got it wedged there

for a bit. Jacques said he wished he had a camera as it looked like

moose was trying to push Jack over.

 

The other problem is the rutting season. The brothers learned quickly

to leave moose in the barn as he was constantly on red alert in the

woods during this time. The brothers are also considering trying this

with two females to make a matched pair which would become an instant

hit at the Maine Fairs. The trouble with the bulls is their racks.

They would be constantly rubbing and hitting each other and yes they

would have to be gelded as I just couldn't imagine getting the two

bulls anywhere near each other, let alone in harness.

 

So now that this picture is going all over the place, the surprise has

been let out of the proverbial bag. The Leroux brothers want to continue

the work of trying to get a pair of females in harness but they may

have to end up breeding moose to do this and that's where they will

run into trouble with the State of Maine IF & W. I'm sure they don't

like the idea of the brothers "keeping" wild animals.

 

Thought you should know the rest of the story. If any of you doubt

this please contact Tom Whitworth in Ashland, Maine. I think he said he

was a second cousin to the Lerouxs and has seen this anomaly many

times.

 

Regards from your frozen Northeasterly most state,

 

PL

[25-06]

Thats Larks cousin Freddy (poor guy has 6 toes on each foot) he lives out in the sticks up in Alaska with his mule named bulwinkle

[billrquimby]

I was sent the photo by a friend, and it looked too good to be true so I enlarged it greatly. Try it. Take a close look at the harness under the bull's belly and look at the hard edges, and then try to figure what the guy is doing with his hands. I think someone who is super skilled with PhotoShop either enhanced a photo of someone with a moose, or committed pure fraud. The hair on the bull's back also looks doctored when it's enlarged.

 

Bill Quimby

[COOSEFAN]

That's fake. I agree with Bill, if you look at all the edges around the Moose and the harnesses you can see it looks as though it were cut out. Also, after getting to fully experience the actual size of a Moose, not to mention a Yukon Moose, that one is either the biggest bodied Moose to ever live, or that guy is a midget! Neat pic though, but I don't believe it, JIM>

[IHunt2live]

I was sent the photo by a friend, and it looked too good to be true so I enlarged it greatly. Try it. Take a close look at the harness under the bull's belly and look at the hard edges, and then try to figure what the guy is doing with his hands. I think someone who is super skilled with PhotoShop either enhanced a photo of someone with a moose, or committed pure fraud. The hair on the bull's back also looks doctored when it's enlarged.

 

Bill Quimby

 

 

I agree. It looks a little fake to me, especialy around the head and antlers. Neat pic though, I liked it, thatnks for shearing.

[shortpants]

I suppose next you guys are gunna tell me there's no Santa Clause, no tooth fairy, and no Easter Bunny!

 

It's real so you should be ashamed of yourselves for sayin it aint.

 

Don't believe me, just wait till Christmas and enjoy your tree with no presents.

[Jimhm]

I suppose next you guys are gunna tell me there's no Santa Clause, no tooth fairy, and no Easter Bunny!

 

It's real so you should be ashamed of yourselves for sayin it aint.

 

Don't believe me, just wait till Christmas and enjoy your tree with no presents.

 

 

I am worried about you Jason, I really am.

 

Jim

[billrquimby]

What made me suspicious was I couldn't figure what the guy is doing with his hands while bent over like that. It looks as if he's cleaning a horse's hoof, but both of the bull's front legs are straight.

 

Helluva photo, though.

 

Bill Quimby

[shortpants]

I suppose next you guys are gunna tell me there's no Santa Clause, no tooth fairy, and no Easter Bunny!

 

It's real so you should be ashamed of yourselves for sayin it aint.

 

Don't believe me, just wait till Christmas and enjoy your tree with no presents.

 

 

I am worried about you Jason, I really am.

 

Jim

 

If it took till now to get you worried about me then I'm doin purdy good.