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Moose Festival remains big draw for Hamilton County

Alyssa Hogancamp of Ulster County poses with the “Bruce the Moose” that she won in the Count the Moose Scat Contest. (Photo for the Enterprise — Bill Quinlivan)

INDIAN LAKE — Saturday morning it was windy, cloudy and colder than it had been for quite some time. Despite the conditions, hikers were assembling in the parking lot next to the Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce and at the Limekiln Gate entrance to Moose River Plains in Inlet. They were assembling to participate in one of the four guided hikes as a kick-off to this ninth year of the Great Adirondack Moose Festival.

Given the conditions, one was led to believe that the hikers had an extraordinary hankering to enjoy a trek into the woods, but deep inside each was hoping to be rewarded with a glimpse (and possibly a photo) of the elusive, majestic mammal that the festival was celebrating. Each of the guided hikes certainly covered areas that offered the possibility of a sighting in addition to some incredible scenery along the way. The Inlet group had the destination of Rock Dam in the Moose River Plains, while those assembling in Indian Lake had the choice of hiking into OK Slip Falls, up Coney Mountain or around the John Pond / Clear Pond Loop made possible by a new connector trail between the two. Moose sighting or not, all hikers were rewarded to the crisp, early fall air, the start of autumn color and the benefit of the knowledge of their experienced guides.

As the sun began to peek out of the clouds and the wind began to subside, the festival began to truly heat up with 2 days of opportunities to combine learning, shopping and just plain fun.

Learning

Mary Hall, Utica Zoo’s director of education, poses with wildlife from the Utica Zoomobile at The Great Adirondack Moose Festival. (Photo for the Enterprise — Bill Quinlivan)

For the seriously curious Moose enthusiast, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Big Game Biologist, James Stickles gave a lecture on Saturday morning entitled, “Current Adirondack Moose Research.” Biologist Stickles was supported by a comprehensive Power Point presentation that included some amazing video footage of netting a moose from a helicopter for the purpose of attaining samples for health assessment and GPS collaring of subjects for tracking. The netting procedure helps avoid the need to and inherent risk of tranquilizing the moose. Beyond the excitement of the video footage, the large audience in the Indian Lake Community Theater was given the latest information about the moose living in the Adirondacks.

In summary, Stickles presentation pointed out that there were a good number of sightings in Hamilton County; that the estimated population of Moose in the Adirondack Park is 400; the fact that each moose in the Adirondacks eats between 40 to 60 pounds of browse per day; there is a more than expected 21 percent of the moose in the Adirondacks with liver flukes, but there are only 2 percent of the GPS collared moose in the area that exhibit winter ticks. Stickles explained that winter ticks sap energy from the host moose in two ways: blood loss and thermal loss due to the moose removing hair in the effort to remove the ticks. Stickles also provided the information that in the current collared population, the recruitment (birth) rate is .8 calves per cow. All in all, Stickles presented a positive picture of the state of the wellbeing of the moose in the Adirondacks.

For those festivalgoers preferring a more hands on, interactive approach to learning, on Saturday afternoon, the theater hosted the ever-popular Moose Calling Contest in the Indian Lake Community Theater. The packed theater audience was informed and entertained by two groups of contestants, one group of adult competitors and the other group of child competitors. The master of ceremonies was none other than naturalist and outdoor guide, Ed Kanze who not only officiated the competition, but posed 10 moose questions with multiple choice answers to the audience designed to educate and entertain.

The adult category was won by Rick Favaloro. Favaloro got the first place nod from the panel of five judges with an incredible and memorable performance that started with a rather authentic sounding call followed by what one could only call a “moose prance dance” around the stage. The performance ended with Favaloro laying on the stage in a fetal position facing an audience that was at once applauding and laughing over his hijinks.

The children’s category 1st place award was won by Kelsey Slane who gave one of the most convincing calls of all the child contestants. Kelsey and her sister Calista have been taking part in the contest for a number of years. It should be added that Calista, 2 years of age, took second place.

The Bard and Coogan Families from Schenectady and Stillwater enjoy photo op with Bruce the Moose and Smokey Bear during The Great Adirondack Moose Festival (Photo for the Enterprise — Bill Quinlivan)

Plaques were given to the first through third place winners and all competitors received commemorative medals, coupons for a free ice cream from Happy Trails Ice Cream in Indian Lake and a free ticket for the Indian Lake Community Theater. All the contestants got a photo opportunity with this years “special guest” judge, State Senator James Tedisco.

Interactive learning was also the focus at the Adirondack Experience (formerly the Adirondack Museum) on Blue Mountain Lake. For both days of the festival, The Adirondack Experience dedicated it’s Marion River Carry Pavilion to Moose Lab 101. Included with the price of admission, Moose Lab 101 let visitors examine a reproduction moose skeleton and take part in a “mooseum” scavenger hunt designed to provide basic information about the moose. Younger moose enthusiasts could participate in a myriad of games and even make moose tracks in the sand.

On Sunday morning, the hands-on learning expanded to wildlife beyond the moose when the Utica Zoomobile made an appearance on the festival grounds beside the Indian Lake Central School. The Utica Zoo’s Director of Education was on hand to introduce children and adults alike to some of the animals in the zoo’s mobile exhibit. Those visiting the Zoomobile got to see a rescued Bard Owl, pet a full-grown possum named Daisy, get introduced to a male and female couple of stick bugs from New Guinea, pet a rabbit and even a snake.

Shopping

At the center of the festival grounds there were vendors offering wonderful Adirondack focused and crafted goods for sale which included hand made jewelry, wood crafted products, hand made jackets and vests, festival tee shirts and sweatshirts, maple products, handmade fudge and a variety of other festival related gifts and food stuffs.

Sidewalk vendors offered Adirondack related antiques and antique tools. Chain saw carving artist, Jay Scott was on hand giving demonstrations of using chain saws to create specific carvings and offered a number of carvings for sale. There was even a wine tasting tent in the front of the Indian Lake Tavern and Restaurant within earshot of the live music entertainment provided by The Vintage Country Band performing classic country music from the ’50s, ’60’, as well as, rock and roll. Adults were able to sip a bit of vintage wine, while listening to some vintage tunes.

In Blue Mountain Lake, the Adirondack Center for the arts had its gallery open with free exhibitions of the art of Rebekkah Ziel and Robert Keough. The Center also had its gift shop open offering the works of Adirondack artists and crafters.

Just Plain Fun

Not that learning and shopping are not fun; there were a number of activities and areas that were specifically geared toward fun for the sake of fun. These ran the gamut from a real old fashion “turkey shoot” at the range on Chain of Lakes Road to the Moosterpeice Children’s Games and Activities Center at the Byron Park Pavilion.

But there was one activity that had visitors seeking out sealed containers of Moose “Scat” (represented by chocolate malt balls) in outlets scattered across the festival area. The object was to find a container of “scat” and enter your best guess as to the number of pieces in the sealed container. The person who came the closest in each outlet would be entered into a “Count the Moose Scat” drawing for a 4-foot Bruce the Moose wooden carving. This year’s winner was Alyssa Hogancamp of Ulster County.

Throughout the festival area, Bruce the Moose and Smokey the Bear were escorted by a New York Forest Ranger in order to provide families with photo ops with the two furry ambassadors of the 9th Great Adirondack Moose Festival. The festival seems to be charging forward every year, one has to wonder what next year’s 10th festival will bring.

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