About 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 6, 2001, Paul was looking outside the auction hall to see who was coming for the early preview of our warehouse clearance "no frills" auction. Something caught his eye.

"Hmmm....looks like the neighbor's horse is loose. I'll take a closer look." He stepped outside to check on the "horse" to find it was not a horse at all, but a young bull moose!

Excited, Paul ran back inside the auction hall yelling, "Hey, there's a moose out here!" Of course, we all thought he had a bad case of "put your glasses on, Paul". Sure enough, there he was, big as life, happily munching away on fallen apples in the corner of the field.

It really didn't seem to matter to him whether we were watching him or not. It was a nice autumn morning, the sun was shining, the breeze was brisk, and the apples were simply delicious! What more could a young moose want?

He enjoyed the snack, checked out the traffic on Route 17, and thankfully decided against crossing. The parking lot looked interesting. He, in total moose-fashion, lumbered uphill onto the parking lot, hopped (ever so un-gracefully) over the chain dividing the parking lot, and wandered next door to the back of the florist shop.

Meanwhile, we scrambled about like chickens in a frenzy...I was trying to run fast enough to grab the digital camera and get some proof on a disk before this amazing creature got away. Mom was in a panic because no one knew where Brian (our 12 year old son) was playing...last we knew it was somewhere "outback", directly where the moose was heading. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but, a young bull moose in rutting (or mating) season is not usually an animal you want to meet if you are alone in the woods.

Paul and Mom ran completely around the henpen building yelling for Brian. This took some effort...the henpen building is the auction hall with warehouses on both ends! The wind was blowing wildly and it was doubtful that he would ever hear them.

The moose found the brook behind the henpen and decided that was the direction he should go...these people were just too wild and crazy acting for him.

Brian came out of the woods about five minutes later. "Where have you been?!" we all questioned him.

"Oh, just out by the brook, playing. What's all the excitement?" he asked innocently. Then we explained about the moose. He thought we were all a few sandwiches short of a picnic. That is, until he saw the pictures...and the tracks where the moose had trotted right within five feet of where he had been playing.

So, when you come to a Brooder House auction, be prepared. You just never know what may happen.