Algonquin Adventures / Video: Campsite Moose Encounter on Merchant's Lake

http://www.youtube.com/user/kayakcamper · **Posted by Uppa** 2/05/2017 11:09 am

This happened on my August trip last year. I was on the beach site on Merchant's Lake, sitting down by the water with my coffee and (fortunately) my camera, and this beauty just came strolling down the water's edge until she parked herself right in front of me.

I posted some of this video on an Algonquin facebook group not long after the trip, and it was also in my video trip report so it may not be new to some of you, but I thought it'd be worth posting.

My apologies that it's slightly out of focus. This particular camera has a problem with auto-focus on videos.

**Posted by swedish pimple** 2/05/2017 2:08 pm

blind as a bat!!

**Posted by Steve E** 2/05/2017 5:15 pm

What an amazing experience!

**Posted by dontgroandaddy** 2/07/2017 2:27 pm

You must look exactly like a rock. Or a tree. That footage is something else, thank you for sharing it. If I might suggest, you should be able to win some quality bar bets with that. I've had two close-proximity encounters, but not like a moose taking a leisurely stroll down the beach. One was on the carry between Daisy and Acme - I was carrying a canoe when a cow walked right across the trail in front of me. All I saw was brown. Then I saw her calf to my right. Soooooo glad she was cool about it.

**Posted by Blobsquatch** 2/12/2017 5:32 pm

Incredible, you were as cool as a cucumber. Not sure I would have been able to stay still during that close encounter. Thank you for sharing!

http://www.youtube.com/user/kayakcamper · **Posted by Uppa** 2/13/2017 1:17 pm

@swedish_pimple it wouldn't surprise me if she was half blind, yep. But I was sitting on the edge of the beach next to a tree, so I might have been hard to spot. I moved only enough to move the camera.

@Steve E: Yep, it was pretty cool. Doubt I'll ever have something quite like that happen again.

@dontgroandaddy: I hear you. I once climbed into my kayak in a tiny little creek at the end of a portage only to spot a calf a few feet away on one side. Then I looked to my other side, and there was mom. I thought I was in deep trouble, but she didn't seem to care.

@Blobsquatch: I think the camera was the reason. I was looking through the lens so it wasn't really happening, or something like that. If I'd been just sitting there watching her walk up to me I'd probably have been seriously spooked, but as it was it honestly never occurred to me to be nervous.

**Posted by Barbara** 2/13/2017 5:50 pm

Mister, do you have any cookies?

what a sweetie.

Barbara

**Posted by AlgonquinGuy** 3/15/2017 2:44 pm

I know it isn't but that looks just like the beach at the south end of Crotch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kayakcamper · **Posted by Uppa** 3/16/2017 8:18 am

Right after the moose I shot another video in which I stated I was on Welcome Lake - while sitting on a Merchant's Lake campsite.

What I'm saying is that sand is confusing. You at least have the excuse that you weren't there.

**Posted by ATVenture** 10/06/2018 7:40 am

So I camped on Merchant Lake on my recent 10 day solo trip, the only reason I was interested in this lake/campsite was because of your moose experience. I knew chances of something happening to me were slim to none, but you never know right?
Well guess what? Around 5pm while I was cooking dinner I could hear a bull grunting and groaning only a couple hundred yards to the East of this same campsite - this went on for about 1 hour.
Just as the sun was setting I could hear splashing in the lake just to the East, so I went down to the waters edge to take a peek, and lo and behold there was a bull and a cow trotting down the beach towards me. It was like they were on a date, obviously they were 'having a little fun' back in the bush, then decided to go for a stroll down the beach to watch the sunset. As they were coming towards me I swear they were playing around with eachother, the bull would sort of jump at the cow and splash her, then she would splash him, then they'd sort of chase eachother and splash eachother - until they noticed me watching.
Probably my best Algonquin experience to date!
Of course just after all of this I went to use the boom box, and literally 2 feet infront of it there was a huge mound of fresh bear scat. Lots of life around here I guess.

Last edited by ATVenture (10/06/2018 7:42 am)

**Posted by Splakin** 10/11/2018 12:09 pm

My Brother and I were on Bice 2 weeks ago. We had a cow and bull on our site for 3 days. Wouldn't leave. Arrived on Fri 28th. Started to rain around 2pm. Up with the tarp. So around 4 I'm like we have to get some wood for supper plus extra to dry out while the fire is going. We were forging around and a broken twig got my attention. It was the cow. So we took a few pics from a safe distance. Continued on collecting wood. Then the calling started and the bull came out of hiding. Very cool to see. But now I'm ready to do Ben Johnson at any second now being in the rut. They couldn't care less we were watching them. So that was the last time we saw them until we returned back from fishing Saturday afternoon around 3pm. Maybe the rye the night before helped us sleep better lol. Soon as we got out of our canoe the cow was like 15 yards gorging on the small trees. I'm like what are we gonna do? So we yelled at them...nothing. Grabbed my ax hit the big log beside the fire pit....nothing. I knew the bull wasn't far behind so we were cautious. I had a whistle on my PFD which my brother started to blow. She really didn't like that. Off she went. They were calling on and off the rest of the night. Again coming back from fishing just before dark, there she was again. Right on our site. I'm like this is getting stupid. We were contemplating on leaving but it was dark now. Not like it was a bear bugging us. The only thing was, our tent was kinda right at the trail entrance leading back into the woods/thunderbox. I didn't feel like getting walked on in the middle of the night. Would the moose walk around a tent? I don't know. Again we repeated the same process as earlier, off she went. So now it's good and dark we had a couple of snacks few night caps. Were thinking about hittin the sack, doesn't she come right back. OK, this is getting stupid now. Now she wasn't really caring about the whistle, plus I mentioned to my brother maybe we shouldn't honk on it anymore because maybe a fellow camper might hear it and think we are in some kind of distress or emergency. When we shone the flashlight into the woods you could see the trees moving when she would run her mouth along the branches grabbing all the leaves. We started to throw rocks around her. She really didn't care. I'm like wow. My brother grabbed his tackle tray box. Spinners and spoons inside and shook it loudly. Off she went didn't like that. by this time it's midnight. So the same thing happened at 3am. back to sleep at 4. I woke up to her chewing at 8. I have a vid should try and get it on here to show ya's. She was laying down right behind our tent literally 25 feet away. At this point, I didn't even care anymore. Had my coffee made breky she finally moved on. But with all of this, the bull was way more scared then she was and always keep a good distance from us. Which is fine by me. We seen them again getting wood, every time. Heard time the rest of our duration at the site.
All the trees from about 6-15 feet tall were stripped of their leaves and snapped off about 8-9 feet high. Makes me think about the Bigfoot shows where they show that. Moose maybe? Must have been some good nutrients in them tress/hill side. And getting wood I've never seen so many tracks everywhere. Funny thing was, there was fresh bear scat mixed in the entire hill side as well. So both the moose and the bear must have been there for a good week or so judging by the scat.
We had chippy's, woody and rabbits running around our site all week-end. Owl made an appearance, which was cool. Sure was wildlife week-end that's for sure.........
Wow sorry this got lengthy lol

**Posted by ATVenture** 10/13/2018 6:32 am

Which site on Bice were you on? I'd love to have a couple moose to hang out with around camp!

Last edited by ATVenture (10/13/2018 6:32 am)

**Posted by Splakin** 10/14/2018 7:42 pm

Hey ATV! No site on PCI to reference. So the third site to the left as you enter the lake. Pretty nice open site. About the the of a tennis court flat and grassy. Almost un Algonquin like. With all the bear scat was kinda hoping to catch a glimpse of smokey the bear. But no. Not such a bad thing l guess

**Posted by Splakin** 7/09/2019 7:33 am

Hey all! I finally got that vid up I mentioned earlier in this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-B6msANpiw