This column is more wildlife stories featuring bats, loons, and moose, at camp. Let’s start with my bat story.
I was fishing one evening in our boat and casting my fly from the back of the boat when a bat flew up and picked my fly right out of the air, hooking itself. I pulled back on the line and the bat dropped into the water.
I carefully reeled it in and lifted it into the boat, and was pleased that the bat did not move while I carefully removed the hook, after which the bat took off. It was certainly my most unusual catch, although one other time I caught a duck.
My loon story is a good one too. Again, I was fishing from the boat when I caught a small brook trout. A loon quickly swam up and grabbed the trout. I gave the line a quick tug and pulled the trout out of the loon’s mouth and reeled it quickly to the boat, lifting it into the boat while the loon swam up and tried to grab it.
When the loon figured out the trout was gone, he swam around the boat, flapping his wings and screeching. That went on for quite a time. Another unforgettable fishing experience.
The moose story involves my 6-year-old granddaughter Ada who was three at the time. Ada had never seen a moose, and when one appeared in our small pond down the hill in front of our camp, another camp owner ran up the hill to tell us.
We all ran down to see the moose, and the other camp owner asked Ada, “Is that a horse?” And Ada shouted, “No, that’s a moose!”