Book and Journal of Mattanaw

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# Evening Visit From a Moose in Anchorage

A quick video of a moose munching on a tree beside my old apartment

Author: Christopher Matthew Cavanaugh

Published: March 12th 2017

Edited: Original Version

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to be visited by a large bull moose at night. Moose are dangerous—one of the most dangerous animals in Alaska—so I kept my distance while capturing this video.

Moose are very far from endangered but sightings are still infrequent, even here in Anchorage. They cover an expansive range for browsing and feeding, and are mostly solitary, so population density is low. Sightings are not quite as rare as with bears, but residents may not see one for weeks at a time.

Around the city and in neighborhoods visits are irregular. Residents expect to see them every season, but they appear unexpectedly and evoke surprise. This was the first moose we saw after 6 months at our current neighborhood. They attract a ton of attention—our neighbors were leaning out windows to see this one. They are quiet, we didn’t notice this one initially. We noticed the people first, even though they are huge (especially the Alaskan subspecies A. a. Gigas)— this bull was possibly around 1,100 pounds (~500 kgs). In nature it can be hard to tell how large they are, but in neighborhoods the contrast makes it clear. They dwarf cars and stand taller than garages. Away from the city they don’t appear nearly as large.

Tourists can expect to see one or two if they make a visit. Not much planning is required to see a moose (See my article on realistic first trips to Alaska). As long as plenty of time is spent along parks and trails, there is a good chance of spotting one.

Mattanaw I., formerly "Christopher Matthew Cavanaugh"

I am a retired executive, software architect, and consultant, with professional/academic experience in the fields of Moral Philosophy and Ethics, Computer Science, Psychology, Philosophy, and more recently, Economics. I am a Pandisciplinarian, and Lifetime Member of the High Intelligence Community.

Articles on this site are eclectic, and draw from content prepared between 1980 and 2024. Topics touch on all of life's categories, and blend them with logical rationality and my own particular system of ethics. The common theme connecting all articles is moral philosophy, even if that is not immediately apparent. Any of my articles that touch on "the good and virtuous life" will be published here. These articles interrelate with my incipient theory of ethics, two decades in preparation. This Book and Journal is the gradual unfolding of that ethic, and my living autobiography, in a collection of individual books that fit into groups of book collections.

This Book and Journal is already one of the largest private websites and writings ever prepared, at nearly 1 million words, greater than 50,000 images and videos, and nearly one terabyte of space utilized. The entire software architecture is of my creation. Issues of the book for sale can be found under featured. These texts are handmade by myself, and are of excellent quality, and constitute the normal issues of my journal that can also be subscribed to. The entire work is a transparent work in progress. Not all is complete, and it will remain in an incomplete state until death.

I welcome and appreciate constructive feedback and conversation with readers. You can reach me at mattanaw@mattanaw.com (site related), cmcavanaugh@g.harvard.edu (academic related), or christopher.matthew.cavanaugh@member.mensa.org (intelligence related), or via the other social media channels listed at the bottom of the site.

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