Friday, December 17th - Day 19
Now if you have been following the stories on this website, you know we have been in search of moose since the first time we arrived here back in September on our first trip out here. We have yet to see a moose. More over every single morning someone comes in and says "Did you see that moose out on Route 2 this morning?" or, "Oh yea, I had 5 big Bullwinkels out on my lawn this morning!". We are not sure but highly suspect, they are now making up these stories just to have a little fun - at our expense and in a planned, you go tell one today kind of way. It is getting very frustrating because lets face it you come to Vermont for 3 reasons. One to print a big ass book, two for maple syrup, three to see a darn moose! These "stories" of seeing moose several times a day has lead us to believe they do not exist, except in lore. So I picked up the phone and called a friend with the Department of Natural Resources and another at the World Wildlife Fund. I asked a simple question 'What is the state of the moose population in Vermont and New Hampshire. Well, much to my surprise my suspicions are correct. Both confirmed that moose in this part of the world are in fact extinct. However, a much smaller version the mini-moose has been sighted in great abundance. They are faster and smarter than the "old style" moose. And are cagey as well and will hide in unsuspected places. Low and behold, we ran into one of these mini-moose, quite literally, while driving to the press early this morning. It was both a sad moment and one of strange exhilaration as we actually have now seen a moose, mini-moose or not. We are satisfied.
Sadly, it wasn't long before on the drive in this morning we found out how right those experts were. A mini-moose leapt across the road and right into our path.
"He leapt out from over there! I never saw him coming!" I shouted in disbelief. But then my spirits were lifted when I noticed his breath in the cold morning air!
We knew we needed to get him to the vet as soon as possible!
Luckily the vet said Marti would be OK. All he needs is a little rest and he'll be good as new. We feel very close to our new friend Marti the mini-moose, and look forward to his speedy recovery!
Now as we did our final press OK for this session, Marti the mini-moose stayed in the car and relaxed. By the time we were ready to go catch our plane, Rich and I knew what we had to do. After much huddling in the corner and very quiet discussions about what we should do with Marti it was clear what had to be done. We went to the car and told Marti, once again, how sorry we were for hitting him, but let's face facts here pal, you did jump out in front of us, and now that you seem to be feeling better it's time to say good-bye. What happened next is what folklore is made of. With Rich, John Stinehour and I looking on, it seemed as if Marti the mini-moose began to tear up. Who knew we were such nice guys that a mini-moose would become attached to us in such a short time? We stayed firm, "Marti", Rich said, "He's not worth it. You'll be better off here." And with that Marti began to walk away. Was that mini-moose whimpering we all heard? As he rounded the corner of the building John, Rich & I said our good-byes. It was sad, but yet we knew we might see Marti again when we came back in 2 weeks.
It wasn't until we reached the airport and had passed through security that we found out the truth. Marti had quickly jumped back into our car as our backs were turned and hidden in the Stinehour bag! Our hearts soared! Our little friend couldn't leave us. While we were a little upset, because lets face it he did disobey us, we too had grown found of having him around so, how could you be mad for long.
Marti enjoyed the flight, especially the mini pretzels! We spent time explaining to him why we had been in Vermont in the first place and Rich showed Marti a PDF of the book. He seemed to enjoy it. We're not sure what we will do with Marti the mini-moose on this holiday break, after all you never know how a new friendship will develop, but we are all looking forward to the experience and whatever lies ahead.
Stay tuned for more adventures of Marti the mini-moose...

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