Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Bike Dreams

This is the Big Moose Harley-Davidson dealership out on Riverside Street. Anything or place with the word 'moose' in it is a good title here in Maine. Truth be known, here in the largest city, this animal seldom makes an appearance. Usually once or twice a year, one strays into Back Bay or there's a sighting in the outer reaches of the city limits. I mean, they are big, so you're not gonna miss one if it meanders into your backyard.
One morning the guy across the street came racing over asking me if I saw it.
"Saw what?" I said.
"That moose, with that big rack, walked right up the road in front of your house. What a bull!" He replied.
"Noooo, are you kidding me? I missed it." I said.
I've seen quite a few on my trips to the North Maine Woods, but never one down here, in the real world. Well, let me take that back. One grazed off my front bumper once over on Running Hill Road. It was twilight, and I saw his eyes and braked. I don't want to make an acquaintance at night while driving fast though, say on the Maine Turnpike. The moose wins that confrontation every time. They are huge. They end up in the front seat, guts and all, and the driver usually at a local funeral parlor. The percentages are against humans in that meeting. Just Saturday night a motorcyclist met one just after passing over the Canadian boarder. Result? Not pretty!
And I bet you thought I was going to be dreaming about motorcycles today.

20 comments:

  1. oui, mais moi je reve devant les vieilles Harley Davidson "on the road again"

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  2. You sure were lucky that night, Birdman.

    More details: He was driving home from the Maine Mall at dusk on a foggy evening. The moose ran out in front of MY car and Birdman indeed grazed it as it ran off into a field.

    The next morning there was fur all over my bumper. I shudder to think what could have happened.

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    1. Fur on your bumper! No, not a pleasant thought.

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  3. Well, I must admit I am still dreaming sometimes, not of just a motorcycle, but of a Harley-Davidson. Maybe, ever since I saw Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson in "Easy Rider" years back. But again, some dreams, never come true.
    For the rest of your post, it is nice to have such beautiful wildlife as "Moose" so close by.
    We have a small population of brown bears, not like the big grizzlies you have. It is a healthy population of 250-300 adults on the mountains of northern Greece.
    But they are prone to accidents too.
    A new motorway has been constructed recently in the are of their habitat, and the bears, continue using their old paths, and many try to cross the road, never going under the bridges that have been built. Sometimes the adults make it through, but the youngsters dont do it all the times.
    Like the young one which caused another accident a couple of days ago in the area, and unfortunately the bear did not survive it.
    Costas

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  4. In the card game bridge, when you have a big hand (with lots of aces and kings), it's called a moose.

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  5. I've never seen one myself, but I know they are BIG! :-)

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  6. They really are majestic creatures!

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  7. Oh I don't know Birdman, it's never good to be too sure of where your opening paragraph might lead to haha! I'm not afraid of the unknown and enjoy the ride. We have the same problem you do but with kangaroos on the country roads, especially the big males, they can cause a lot of grief!

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  8. you take us on a ride every time. :)

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  9. Moose (mooses? meese?) are also one of the traditional "Canadian" animals, but I've never seen one here either. ;)
    Hope the guy who had the run-in wasn't on a bike! That would definitely be scary.

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    1. Yes, he was on a bike. He won't have to worry about paying his taxes EVER again!

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  10. While we were driving to PEI the number of moose warning signs in New Brunswick was astounding! I wouldn't want to be driving there at dusk.

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  11. You do not want to meet a moose on the loose while riding your Harley!

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  12. I like the name of the dealership. Better than some others I've seen.

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  13. Down here we just worry about hitting a deer. I would hate to have to worry about a moose! That's pretty scary.

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  14. Seriously, I worry about running over a squirrel.

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  15. I love seeing New England - thanks. Know Franconia? Spent a while there under Lafayette.


    Aloha, Friend
    from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    =^..^=

    > < } } ( ° >

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  16. me, I think they're adorable...but then I've never run into one, just seen them leisurely grazing in a pond up in Rangely...How about that Mooselookmeguntic Lake for a moosey name? Love your drift in this post.

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  17. I'd love to see a moose someday, but not on the road in front of me.

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