The Rut

I love Fall. The colors, the smell and the coolness in the air. Moose are incredible animals. I have had many encounters with this largest member of the deer family. The males are very active seeking mates and foes. Males are dominant but females unrelenting. My most memorable experience was on the Kangamagus Highway in New Hampshire. It was dusk and we were traveling to a Bible Study when a female came onto the road. She stood directly in front of the car, not moving. Moose are often viewed as dumb, stubborn or unaware but this is not true. My headlights illuminate her 7 foot shoulders and long legs. She looked directly at me standing her ground, this is often normal but they will lumber off into the deep woods. I knew something was wrong or very disturbing because she took a second to look left and then right in bewilderment. I belie5ve if i had not stopped, i would no longer have a car. Then out of the side of the road TWINS - on opposite sides. She was presenting her life to give to protect not one but BOTH!

Our Savior did the same for you and me! Selfless, deliberate sacrifice! WOW!

A little learning...

The rut is the mating season of ruminant animals such as deer, sheep, elk, moose, caribou, ibex, goats, pronghorn and Asian and African antelope. During the rut (also known as the rutting period, and in sheep sometimes as tupping), males often rub their antlers or horns on trees or shrubs, fight with each other, wallow in mud or dust, and herd estrus females together. The rut in many species is triggered by a shortening of the length of daylight hours each day. The timing of the rut for different species depends on the length of their gestation period (length of pregnancy), usually occurring so the young are born in the spring, shortly after new green growth has appeared (which provides food for the females, allowing them to provide milk for the young), and when the temperatures are warm enough that the young will not die of hypothermia.