Photographer Captures Outstanding Shots Of Moose And Her Twin Calves In His Backyard

Oct 27, 2020

For those of us with backyards, it's common to find animals passing through, even wild ones depending on where you live.

But one animal that people don't usually expect is moose — but that's exactly what one man named Roland Rydstrom found in his backyard in Anchorage, Alaska in June 2020! What's more, the mother moose, who had recently given birth, brought her twin babies, and the trio lounged around in his garden for a few days!

Rydstrom took to Facebook to share the unique story and post photos of the gorgeous creatures. He explained in a Facebook post that his plans for the weekend were quite different, but his unexpected visitors inevitably made him adapt:

"I had a lot of yard work to do out back this weekend. But when the moose camp out and eat everything, you put those plans on hold."

He was aware that the mother moose had given birth only twelve days prior, but never expected to see them up close and personal in his own backyard. They even treated themselves to some food while they were there, eating all sorts of flowers from his yard, except for the marigolds, which they must have deemed unappetizing.

They did however gorge on begonias, so much so that Rydstrom posted a photo of the three of them passed out on the lawn in a kind of begonia sugar coma. It's nice to know that even though animals eat "healthy" plants from nature, they too can sometimes overstuff themselves and need to lie down!

Rydstrom discussed this period of napping and lounging with The Dodo, telling them:

"I sat down to work, and fully expected the moose to walk away and they didn't...They would just change positions and, as you can tell from the pictures, they just kind of moved around to meet the sun—the babies in particular."

While the animals were distracted Roland took the opportunity to race outside and try to save his last begonia, which he put on a table in the backyard. Thinking he'd outsmarted them, the moose eventually found the begonia, as well as another one that was closer to the back door. Roland joked in his post: "Mama moose 2, Roland 0."

As well as the many photos of the weekend visit, Roland captured a video of the animals too, which showed the babies running around their makeshift nursery as they ate flowers, played in the sprinkler, and had a generally fun time, all the while the mother supervised their activities. 

All in all, it was a lovely coming together of humans and nature, and although his begonias were sacrificed, Roland had a one of a kind visit that he'll surely never forget!

What did you think of Roland's weekend visitors? How would you have reacted if you woke up to find moose playing in your backyard? Let us know down below, then be sure to pass this on to any animal lovers you know!