Moose And Her Calves Decide To Spend A Day In This Family’s Backyard, Man Documents How It Went
Roland Rydstrom from Anchorage, Alaska, just had a few uninvited guests pop over to his place; last week, a mama moose and her two calves came over to his backyard. If that wasn’t enough, the moose liked Rydstrom’s grass so much, they decided to spend the day there.
The little buddies taste-tested everything from the chairs to the gates and when they decided the backyard was safe, they snuggled up together and even took a nap. At one point, their mama even gave them lunch. Rydstrom photographed the entire family trip from inside his home and when it was over, the man uploaded the pictures to the Internet. They immediately went viral, showing that people really needed to see something so innocent and cute during these hard times.
More info: Facebook
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
When Rydstrom saw the moose and opened the blinds to get a better look, the animals didn’t even notice him. “Right away, I found the Flat Stanley my cousins sent me from Iowa,” he told Bored Panda. “I had promised my cousins and their elementary school group that I’d take a picture of Flat Stanley with the moose in my yard, but so far in the almost three months I’d been working from home, I hadn’t been home when the moose were here — a very common experience. Flat Stanley had been out on the local hiking trails with me, but so far I’d been unlucky with moose pictures.”
“I took the pictures of the moose with Flat Stanley, and took a few without him and went to work. I really expected that the moose would walk away at some point but every time I looked up from my work, they were still there,” Rydstrom explained. “I could watch directly them from my work spot. It was a great distraction and a fun way to spend the day while I was editing concert footage for my job with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the day, as the moose changed lounging spots or walked away and came back, I’d go back to the window or the open door (the screen door was still closed), to take more pictures of them. They were oblivious to me most of the time (although their ears were up most of the time, so obviously they were alert).”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
The Alaska Moose is actually the state’s official land mammal and 175,000–200,000 of these hulking critters call The Last Frontier their home.
Interestingly, the Alaska moose are sexually dimorphic, making the males 40% heavier than females. Male Alaska moose can stand over 2.1 m (6.9 ft) at the shoulder, and weigh over 635 kg (1,400 lb). Female Alaska moose, on the other hand, are about 1.8 m (5.9 ft) at the shoulder and can weigh close to 478 kg (1,054 lb). This makes the Alaska moose the largest member of the deer family and also the largest moose in the world.
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
It’s not easy maintaining such a physique. Although moose are herbivores, they eat enormous amounts every day. In summer, for example, it will happily munch on 73 pounds of food a day while in winter, it’ll chew on about 34 pounds of scrumptious greens.
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
The moose were in Rydstrom’s backyard for most of the day; from shortly before 9:00 a.m. to almost 7:00 p.m. “They took two quick trips through the neighborhood, but quickly returned to their spots in our backyard,” he said. “Most of the time, as you can see from the pictures, they really were just lounging here. A neighbor reported that she’d observed this same moose family running along the road a few miles from our neighborhood earlier that morning. If I’d taken videos early in the morning, you’d have noticed that the mama, in particular, was breathing very heavily. They needed rest, and I think they felt safe to rest here in our backyard.”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
“Note the smile on its face as it knocks over this pot. Sociopath.”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
“And just like that, the marigold is knocked over and that baby pretends it didn’t have a thing to do with it…”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
“The calves spent a lot of time lounging together. It was cute seeing them lying together and moving with the sun throughout the day”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Rydstrom made the right call by staying inside to photograph the moose family that visited him. Moose are generally not aggressive animals, but they can become incredibly dangerous when provoked. Female moose will not think twice about engaging a person if she thinks they’re threatening her young.
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
“As the moose family left and returned to the backyard, they’d nibble on plants, or in the case of the calves — the patio furniture and decorations in our’s and our neighbors’ backyard — just like a baby, putting everything in their mouth,” Rydstrom added. “In fact, our neighbor started turning her decorative patio lights off and on to try to scare the baby who kept trying to eat a light bulb because she was afraid the glass would break in its mouth. The mama loves eating our yellow begonias and the neighbor’s orange begonias; she also loves the leaves on the trees, the astilbe, bleeding hearts (they’ve bloomed and I’m lucky she didn’t eat them that day), and the orange blossom bush’s leaves.”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Unfortunately, Roland was on a phone call when the most exciting action occurred, so he didn’t get photos or video. “Another cow and her calves came running through the backyard near the end of the day. I could hear them running this way, but I was unable to get a video of them through this lounging moose family. The mama and her babies in my pictures jumped up and quickly ran after them. So there were two cows with four calves running through the backyards. It was a lot of action that I was just relaying to one of my friends over the phone.”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Nothing exactly like this has happened in Rydstrom’s backyard before. However, as he already said, moose often visit it. “Usually, they just walk through the yard and nibble on our plants and trees or play in the neighbor’s sprinklers. A few years ago, we thought a mother was about to give birth in the exact lounging spot in my pictures. She was lying down in the sun for several hours with very labored breathing while stretching her legs. But it was a false alarm and she had her twins across the street that night.”
Roland’s partner Cathy said this on the Facebook post and that she’s been in Alaska since 1976 and has never seen anything like this in her yard, and she’s lived much further up the hillside toward the mountains prior to this neighborhood. “It happens all of the time for others; we just got lucky this time to experience it ourselves.”
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
Image credits: Roland Rydstrom
People absolutely adored the photos
A true gift, generously shared. The babies in their delicious poses are a joy. The mother is just what we want in a mother. Thank you.
The calf tipping the flower pot reminds me of how a cat will slooowly slide an object off a tablet then after have the look of "who me?!"
I love the one where one baby has his leg over the other baby's head. "Mom, Timmy won't let me up, he's sitting on my head, again!" Kids are kids, no matter what species. ;-)
Beautiful! I stopped for a full minute on one of the photos and let myself take a few deep breaths of relaxation. Thanks for sharing!
You should write a children’s book with these gorgeous photos! Give momma a cute name. It would be a hit!
It's all fun and games until someone starts eating the furniture.
This is so precious. From someone that is never going to have the chance to see this in real life, I can imagine that is a wonderful experience. As an European I never saw them, only via documentaries or pics. How lucky you are! Thank you for sharing! The babies are so cute(specially the pic where one of them have a leg on top of the sibling while sleeping)!
Wow. Great photos. Very smart of the hooman to stay inside, moose can be very aggressive.
The babies relaxing in the grass in the same pose - the cutest thing I have seen in a while.
A little correction (for a gigantic animal): the Alaskan moose is the biggest in America but not the biggest in the world. The European moose can reach a tallness of 3.5 meters (~11 ft 6 in) and a weight of 825 kg (~1818 lb) and the average size of European moose is about the same as the larger/largest Alaskan moose. They're BIG 🦠 (there's no moose emoji so here's some micro organisms you're welcome)
Takin' the kids out of school for a day out in a secluded little private park?
What a blessing to be part of this miracle...humans have taken over. the wild animals natural habitat to build much need houses, buildings, dump places and parking lots. SAD
Um the plural of mice...are 'mooses'...:) some 'twit' told that to me years ago,...Ha ha...
When my youngest was around 6 there was a baby moose in our front yard. I opened the front door so she could take a look at the baby. She looks out the door then looks at me and says 'yum'. It was not the reaction I was expecting.
Enjoying peace and safety for a while in this tiniest corner of the world. Thank you for your kindness. P.S. Beautiful yard, no wonder they liked to stay.
I would not accept any calls while this was happening in my backyard! 😻
It was very kind of you to provide shelter to a homeless family! I'm so jealous that I couldn't witness this live as you did. That would have made my day, or maybe my week! The photos are awesome & gave me something to smile & feel good about. Thanks for sharing such a special time. 1
Somebody had to down-vote your comment, Marlene; people don't like to be reminded they are hypocrites, animals on their dinner plate were sentient beings too, heinously torture in factory farms, deprived of freedom and eventually of their lives by being brutally murdered - 300 of them every single second!!! All that so people could eat more than one million animals per hour, tons of dairy and eggs. They don't want to hear that male chicks are ground ALIVE to a pink slime, that calves are taken away from their mothers even though their cries of anguish are unmistakable, they are cramped into small crates, they can't turned around or stretch their limbs, then brutally murdered, which is the fate of their mothers also, after they are completely exhausted and cannot produce more milk for human perverse babies - age 1 to 75-80 +years old. Yes, I said perverse, because no other creature - mammal in nature drinks mother's milk after weaning, certainly not the milk of another species!!!
Load More Replies...
Those babies are adorable 😍. My ex God rest his Soul loved moose and 5hey would come into his yard to drink out of the stream that ran through his property. Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Love it, and good on you for letting them hang out. So often ppl have no patience with creatures of this world like you have had.
Your post "truly" made my day. My heart always runs to any critter. I LOVED VISITING ALASKA a few years ago.Thank you for giving me a very needed smile. Hope you post more. FYI: I live in Clearwater, Fl & we can get very hot. Thankfully, we're 4 miles from the beach. So jealous! Do you take in guests? Kidding! Well, not really. My question: it tooks like your fenced in so how did they thru the gate? Oh geeze, I get it. They must have keys. Absolutely made my day. Thank you so much.
I think there is another moose who annually visits a home in the US and births twins.
Thank you for a treat I could never see in person. The pictures took my breath away. I'll go over them several times.You knew a blessing when you saw one.Thank you again.
Such a lovely back yard. I lived in Fairbanks in the late 50's but on Ladd AFB and did not experience anything like this. Lovely... Thanks for shaing.
These are the most calming and tranquil images I've seen today. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for taking these pictures and sharing them with us. So nice you just left them alone to feel secure and rest.
Awww this is so cute! I wish I lived someplace where I got to see more wildlife, but unfortunately all I get are squirrels, stray cats, and the occasional raccoon or maybe a (rarely seen) skunk...And I only see them when they are about to spray my idiot dog in the face 🙄
A true gift, generously shared. The babies in their delicious poses are a joy. The mother is just what we want in a mother. Thank you.
The calf tipping the flower pot reminds me of how a cat will slooowly slide an object off a tablet then after have the look of "who me?!"
I love the one where one baby has his leg over the other baby's head. "Mom, Timmy won't let me up, he's sitting on my head, again!" Kids are kids, no matter what species. ;-)
Beautiful! I stopped for a full minute on one of the photos and let myself take a few deep breaths of relaxation. Thanks for sharing!
You should write a children’s book with these gorgeous photos! Give momma a cute name. It would be a hit!
It's all fun and games until someone starts eating the furniture.
This is so precious. From someone that is never going to have the chance to see this in real life, I can imagine that is a wonderful experience. As an European I never saw them, only via documentaries or pics. How lucky you are! Thank you for sharing! The babies are so cute(specially the pic where one of them have a leg on top of the sibling while sleeping)!
Wow. Great photos. Very smart of the hooman to stay inside, moose can be very aggressive.
The babies relaxing in the grass in the same pose - the cutest thing I have seen in a while.
A little correction (for a gigantic animal): the Alaskan moose is the biggest in America but not the biggest in the world. The European moose can reach a tallness of 3.5 meters (~11 ft 6 in) and a weight of 825 kg (~1818 lb) and the average size of European moose is about the same as the larger/largest Alaskan moose. They're BIG 🦠 (there's no moose emoji so here's some micro organisms you're welcome)
Takin' the kids out of school for a day out in a secluded little private park?
What a blessing to be part of this miracle...humans have taken over. the wild animals natural habitat to build much need houses, buildings, dump places and parking lots. SAD
Um the plural of mice...are 'mooses'...:) some 'twit' told that to me years ago,...Ha ha...
When my youngest was around 6 there was a baby moose in our front yard. I opened the front door so she could take a look at the baby. She looks out the door then looks at me and says 'yum'. It was not the reaction I was expecting.
Enjoying peace and safety for a while in this tiniest corner of the world. Thank you for your kindness. P.S. Beautiful yard, no wonder they liked to stay.
I would not accept any calls while this was happening in my backyard! 😻
It was very kind of you to provide shelter to a homeless family! I'm so jealous that I couldn't witness this live as you did. That would have made my day, or maybe my week! The photos are awesome & gave me something to smile & feel good about. Thanks for sharing such a special time. 1
Somebody had to down-vote your comment, Marlene; people don't like to be reminded they are hypocrites, animals on their dinner plate were sentient beings too, heinously torture in factory farms, deprived of freedom and eventually of their lives by being brutally murdered - 300 of them every single second!!! All that so people could eat more than one million animals per hour, tons of dairy and eggs. They don't want to hear that male chicks are ground ALIVE to a pink slime, that calves are taken away from their mothers even though their cries of anguish are unmistakable, they are cramped into small crates, they can't turned around or stretch their limbs, then brutally murdered, which is the fate of their mothers also, after they are completely exhausted and cannot produce more milk for human perverse babies - age 1 to 75-80 +years old. Yes, I said perverse, because no other creature - mammal in nature drinks mother's milk after weaning, certainly not the milk of another species!!!
Load More Replies... Those babies are adorable 😍. My ex God rest his Soul loved moose and 5hey would come into his yard to drink out of the stream that ran through his property. Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Love it, and good on you for letting them hang out. So often ppl have no patience with creatures of this world like you have had.
Your post "truly" made my day. My heart always runs to any critter. I LOVED VISITING ALASKA a few years ago.Thank you for giving me a very needed smile. Hope you post more. FYI: I live in Clearwater, Fl & we can get very hot. Thankfully, we're 4 miles from the beach. So jealous! Do you take in guests? Kidding! Well, not really. My question: it tooks like your fenced in so how did they thru the gate? Oh geeze, I get it. They must have keys. Absolutely made my day. Thank you so much.
I think there is another moose who annually visits a home in the US and births twins.
Thank you for a treat I could never see in person. The pictures took my breath away. I'll go over them several times.You knew a blessing when you saw one.Thank you again.
Such a lovely back yard. I lived in Fairbanks in the late 50's but on Ladd AFB and did not experience anything like this. Lovely... Thanks for shaing.
These are the most calming and tranquil images I've seen today. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for taking these pictures and sharing them with us. So nice you just left them alone to feel secure and rest.
Awww this is so cute! I wish I lived someplace where I got to see more wildlife, but unfortunately all I get are squirrels, stray cats, and the occasional raccoon or maybe a (rarely seen) skunk...And I only see them when they are about to spray my idiot dog in the face 🙄
426
71