I’m a fan of Paul Cyr’s photography, and his new book, Uses for Mooses, published by Down East Books, demonstrates why.
The moose photos in this book are amazing. And the book is also a fun read, with lots of humorous comments to go with the photographs. For example, there’s a photo of a cow and two calves, staring at us, with the cow telling her calves, “Act natural. The humans are staring at us again.” There’s a fabulous photo of two bulls fighting, with the caption, “Swing your partner round and round.”
You’ll see moose in rivers and streams, fields and forests, and even on a golf course. I loved the photo of a moose stomping through a farm garden with the caption, “I don’t know what these plants are, but that farmer sure gets mad when I step on them.” Mad, indeed!
My favorite photo brought back a memory, and a story that’s in my book, A Life Lived Outdoors. The photo is of the head of an old moose with a ragged rack emerging from the water. My wife Linda and I, along with our kids, were canoeing in Little Sourdnahunk Lake one August, watching an old moose with a spindly rack standing in the pond, eating plants. His head was covered in flies.
When the moose ducked his head under water to chow down on a plant, the flies would hover in the air above him. Well, I paddled too close to the moose, and when his headed plunged under water, all those flies moved over and settled on me! No flies settled on Linda and the kids. I paddled frantically away, swatting at flies, but it took about 20 minutes to get rid of them all. That’s not a fond memory, it’s just a memory.
Paul Cyr is a professional photographer in Presque Isle who specializes in wildlife. I guarantee you will enjoy this book.