HOLDEN – A local couple who connected through their love of photography was able to capture images of the moose who recently wandered through town. The sizeable creature was relocated by the Massachusetts Environmental Police, with assistance from town police and a biologist, last month for her own safety.
Dan and Tara Prosser have each shared photos of the magnificent moose on social media. In a post Dan shared in the Wachu-Chat Facebook page in August, he affectionately called moose “our recent local celebrity,” and noted that while the juvenile seemed “docile and ‘friendly’ the mom may be much less amicable and possibly lurking just out of sight.”
He noted that moose are most active at dawn and dusk and have a range of anywhere from 5 to 50 miles. His wife, Tara, to whom he referred in the post as his “adventure partner,” also shared photos she took of the moose, affectionately dubbed Penelope.
“We are so fortunate to have her as a member of the community!” Tara posted in the same local Facebook page on Jan. 14. “These photos were taken at an ethical distance with a camera that cost more than my first car. It’s so important for us to remember that this is a wild animal and we have to be doing our part as community caretakers to keep a safe environment for her. If we start getting
too close or if someone gets hurt, we will be responsible for putting the animal in a position where it might be relocated or put down. It’s also important to keep in mind that she is young … . It’s entirely possible that there is a parent or a mate still in the area that might not approve of us trying to be too friendly. A moose is capable of getting excited and stomping us quite severely without even meaning it.”
The following day Holden police shared via Facebook that they had assisted MEP on Bullard Street, where the
moose had been hanging out for some time and was attracting a lot of unwanted attention.
“Environmental Police have been monitoring the local moose for a while, and believed that for the safety of the moose and the public that it was best to tranquilize and relocate the moose,” the HPD post read. “The Environmental Police along with a biologist safely and successfully tranquillized the moose. The moose which they reported to be a healthy female, was secured and transported to western Mass where she will be released. For all that question this, the moose had taken up residency in a backyard for quite some time. This was the safest scenario for the moose and the public. The Environmental Police/biologists did a fantastic job to safely move the moose.”
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Outreach and Education Assistant Director Nicole McSweeney said the moose was relocated from the “heavily populated area” in town for her own safety — and that of the curious onlookers she was attracting.
“Given the location, it was determined the safest course of action was to immobilize and relocate the moose with the assistance of the Massachusetts Environmental Police,” McSweeney said. “MassWildlife transported it to an undisclosed forested area nearby and monitored it until the effects of the immobilization agent wore off.”
Dan has lived in the Holden area for more than 20 years, and now lives in Jefferson near Eagle Lake with Tara. They have been married for four years but first met 25 years ago when they were police officers in Templeton and Gardner, respectively.
“We were good friends but obviously living different lives back then,” recalled Tara, who grew up in Gardner.
She went on to say that “it was actually photography that reconnected us.” A mutual friend “had posted a great shot of the blood moon on Facebook” about eight years ago, and they realized they both shared a passion for photography, specifically nature and wildlife.
“It’s hard to find somebody who’s interested in the kind of time it takes sometimes to get great pictures,” she said. “For every good picture, there’s lots of hours of not seeing anything.”
Dan was fortunate enough to get some beautiful pictures of the locally famous moose back in September, and Tara grabbed some in January. He said he had been “trying to track its movements since last summer” and that he’s “always loved nature and being in nature.”
“I used to hunt, but the season was very short and I just grew away from it,” he said, adding that he became interested in photography 25 years ago after he went to a forensic photography school when he was a police officer.
“I put my love of nature, the thrill of the hunt, and photography skills to work photographing nature,” Dan said.
He said his “attraction to the moose was because of the rarity of it” and that “until recently seeing a moose was nearly impossible in Central Mass.”
While he and his wife are often referred to as bird photographers, they really consider themselves wildlife photographers and recently trekked north to Maine with the hopes of capturing images of a Steller’s sea eagle.
“Birds are just more plentiful and more easily found,” he said of the hobby they enjoy. “It allows us to spend quality time with each other doing what we love.”
Tara echoed her husband’s sentiments, saying that photographing the moose and other wildlife including eagles, bobcats, owls, otters and more, together, “gets us off the couch and away from the hustle and bustle of life.”
“We get to spend time together and bring awareness to all the great wildlife we have here.”
