John Banovich - Misty Encounter

The story originated from a research trip to Moose Flats near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This old Shiras bull moose was in full rut mood when I encountered him one early morning out in front of the Jackson Lake Lodge. I spent several hours with him as he chased females and pushed other bulls out of his herd. He was strong, aggressive and seemed to be afraid of nothing.  He seemed to tolerate my presence most of the time but, as with all wildlife, something suddenly changed when he came around a group of willows and out of the blue he charged me. Having a bull moose in rut bear down on you is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately there were few other photographers near me and one had a red coat and as he was close to leaving a permanent dent in my torso, the woman in the red coat ran and he looked towards her which broke his attention span long enough for me to narrowly escape. The life of an artist who paints “Big Things with Big Teeth” definitely has its hazards.