A Moose in my House

It's been a rewarding month of moose: our freezer is full of many bags of tender moose meat. Yum! Here is a picture of our kind benefactor: He was caught by a neighbor & colleage's son, his first moose, so he gave all of it away, in accordance with tradition. We were one of the lucky recipients! Tuluk had been on the hunt with him when he caught it, and helped carry it out of the bog as well.

Recently I commented to a Facebook friend, "I just didn't have time what with the moose coming into my house and all" and the friend said, "Gee, that is quite a mental image for someone from the lower 48..." But it is kind of what happens when there's a catch of some kind of animal, because it kind of takes over everything for a while: takes up the floor, takes all the kitchen implements to put it away, and takes up all your free time while you take care of it! And it kind of looks like an alien creature when it's all in pieces, rather than part of a whole -- check out this hoof:

I was lucky that Tuluk did all the heavy lifting and it was just left to me to cut it into pieces I thought were a cookable size. We've been totally sold on moose in the crockpot -- it gets so tender it just falls to pieces. Who needs beef? :)Esther was so funny -- when she was helping me, she said with a sigh, "I love messing around with meat. Look! There are all of my favorite colors in this meat!" (I think she was talking about the pink in the meat and the silver of the fat/membrane). What fun to have a hardy Alaskan child.

The weather was so nice that Tuluk went out several times -- and after the first goal was met of enough moose for everyone in the family, he just went out to camp. I have a feeling that it's fun for all the guys running into other guys out there, visiting each others' camps. I have to say I'm jealous! I would LOVE to go out camping in good weather indefinitely, if it weren't for the drag of having to work for a living....nah, I like my job. :)

Ok, so now for the graphic shot.... Tuluk cut the tongue out of the moose for moose tongue soup, and even though it was kind of gory, it was interesting to see the moose's cud (yes, moose chew regurgitated grass just like cows) and the teeth: