A strip of bark was pulled from the small trunk of the Mayday tree and it was left pushed over in the mud. Mayday is not a moose's favorite food, which was one of the reasons for getting this tree, but finding it unpalatable didn't stop them from destroying it.
After rejecting the Mayday the moose made their way to the clump of aspen, stripping most of the leaves off of it before being attracted to the sweet scent of the profusely blooming Therese Bugnet roses -- which are now without a single bud. I cannot tell you how much pleasure these beautiful roses were already giving me. I didn't even get a photo of them before they were gone.
Well, nothing was outright killed but recovery will take a year and the aspen in particular looks awfully ratty. This is so much like the frustration of growing things in Old Trails where there is no protection from the rabbits, pack rats, mice, insects, birds, heat and drought that I have finally given up any thought of a garden there.
We now have an eight foot tall wire fence around the newly planted things. Better late than never. If they break down the fence I swear I am done with Alaska gardening, too.
