Tale
of the Moose: Part 2
There
it was, a large bull moose floating in the holding pond. All you could see were
gigantic horns and a bulky body on the surface of the water. The rest was
submerged. Having made an impulsive decision to shoot the moose without a
hunting tag, the poachers were now faced with a difficult decision: how to
retrieve the body.
After
a frenzied debate, a coin was flipped to see which one would strip down and
wade into the pond with a logging chain to retrieve the carcass. It was cold
but the moose couldn't be left where it was. The loser grabbed the chain and
made quick work of latching it onto the moose. The other end attached to the
trailer hitch of the truck. Out came the moose looking like a beached whale. It
was a big animal!
While
the swimmer warmed up in the truck, his partner started to field dress the
moose. Unable to penetrate the hide with a hunting knife, the only instrument
left was the chain saw. What a mess; blood and guts everywhere. By the time the
job was done, the place looked like the Chain Saw Massacre.
Every
hunter knows that pulling the trigger is the easiest part of big game hunting.
By the time the moose was skinned and hung in the garage, a full day’s work was
done. Putting the hide in plastic bags for the garbage man turned out to be a
bad idea. The next morning the driveway was covered in blood and fur. The dogs
had found the garbage bags and spent the night spreading evidence of the sin
for all to see.
As
the potential consequences of the illegal hunt started to sink in, there was
more work to do. Repackaging the hides and plowing the driveway to conceal any
further evidence only added to the growing guilt. Even that beautiful set of
horns did not survive. Again, the dogs were the culprits. They found the horns
and chewed away a large part of them.
There
is a moral to this Tale of the Moose but you will have to wait until next
Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment