Moose in Colorado?

I took this picture in the Summer of 2016 just outside Steam Boat Springs, Colorado. I was surprised  to discover that Moose hang out this far south.

After some very minor research I discovered that most of the Moose in the lower 48 are a smaller species of Moose than it's monstrous Alaskan cousin.  The Moose in this picture was likely transplanted by the conservation department in recent years.  (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)  I don't feel being transplanted makes this particular Moose less of a Moose than the native Moose.  Plus he was nice enough to come out of hiding long enough for me to take this drive-by picture.

If you run into my Colorado Friends, Denver-Victor or Ft. Collins-Randy, tell them I said hello and thought about them when I ran across this doggone Moose picture today.  I think that was the same trip we had a bear very nearly walk inside our cabin while we were on the deck enjoying a beverage and watching the sunset.  Unlike the Moose, the bear are native to the local area.  Not that that makes them any better in my view than the Moose.

I'll try to keep the 3 of you and Aunt Dee Dee posted on any other Moose/Bear related activity I run across.  In the meantime, I'm headed down to Dairy Queen for a brazier burger and a half gallon of hard-pack.  And it's hard to go any better than that:-)