Where am I

Yup, 111 and 25a

Bout a 1/2 mile west of my shop

LL BEAN

LL BEAN

[HEADING=2]'The Final Charge'[/HEADING]
[pressherald.com/2009/10/01/the-final-charge/]('https://www.pressherald.com/2009/10/01/the-final-charge/')

By John Balentine October 1, 2009

Thanks to the efforts of a Gray taxidermist, shoppers at L.L. Bean in Freeport saw something last weekend most people have never seen: a pair of bull moose literally locked in combat.

“The Final Charge,” unveiled to the public last Saturday in its newly built display case at the Main Street entrance to L.L. Bean, is a museum-quality recreation of the final battle of two Maine moose which rammed antlers and became forever locked. The display will mostly remain at the store, though it will be loaned out to events, such as the upcoming Fryeburg Fair.

According to the display’s creator, Mark Dufresne of Nature’s Reflection Taxidermy, located on Tyler Drive in Gray, “it’s an absolute freak of nature. That’s what’s so unique about this. There was a one-in-a-million chance these two moose would lock antlers. It was another one-in-a-million chance someone would find the antlers intact.”

Dufresne explained that during the fall 2005 rutting season each moose probably charged from about 20 feet, striking each other with such force their antlers flexed open to cushion the blow. However, the bulls couldn’t muster the power to pull free and eventually died, locked together until each one perished of either exhaustion or starvation.

“The two moose died doing what moose in Maine do, fighting to see who was boss. Usually the smaller one smartens up but when they are about the same size, as these two were, their antlers got locked together in such a way that they couldn’t free themselves,” Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Deputy Commissioner Paul Jacques told the 150-strong audience assembled at L.L. Bean Saturday. “One probably died of exhaustion, and the other one, well, there was no place for him to go.”

While walking in her woods in the spring of 2006, Adella Johnson of New Sweden noticed an antler point sticking up out of a beaver pond. After discovering she had found a set of locked antlers, she decided to donate the rare find to the state.

Cleaning the antlers was the next project. Two Unity College students who were in a pre-game warden program at the school were enlisted to clean the antlers. Meghan Fenton, of Hemlock Lane in Gray, and Evan Franklin, of Durham, brought the antlers to Fenton’s home in Gray to prepare the antlers for taxidermy. Using a pressure washer and maggots, nature’s best cleaning agent, Fenton and Franklin cleaned the antlers, never separating the two sets of antlers in the process.

Asked how disgusting it was to clean the antlers, Fenton replied, “On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 12.”
In fall of 2006, the Unity College students returned the antlers to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Augusta, where they were stored until a financially feasible plan to display them could be brokered.

In 2008 the state teamed up with L.L. Bean to create a display of the locked antlers at Bean’s flagship store in Freeport. The partnership was “awesome,” Deputy Jacques said.

“Without L.L. Bean’s support, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said. “This is just one of many successful projects we have partnered with L.L. Bean over the years.”

Come spring 2009, Gray taxidermist Dufresne was hired to create “The Final Charge.” Dufresne also created the only other locked moose antler display in North America, “Locked Forever,” a traveling display for the state of New Hampshire.

After designing a clay scale model, which he presented to the state and L.L. Bean for approval, Dufresne started by suspending the locked antlers from his workshop’s ceiling to recreate the original position of the colliding moose. He then created a pose for the bodies using steel girding and urethane foam exteriors. He then carved the bodies using a Sawzall and knives and covered the frames with moose firs donated by hunters from the 2008 moose season.

“It took over 500 hours,” Dufresne said. “There was a lot of thought that went into it. It’s all I did for a few months this spring and early summer.”
[Two moose antlers were found in the woods in New Sweden in spring of 2006 in near perfect condition, submerged in a beaver pond. The antlers were then cleaned and fitted to bodies to create a full-scale, museum-quality display entitled “The Final Charge” at L.L. Bean in Freeport. (Staff photos by John Balentine)]('')
[Evan Franklin of Durham and Meghan Fenton of Gray were awarded with framed artwork for their help in preparing a set of locked antlers for the recently unveiled display titled “The Final Charge.” The bull moose display will be transported to the upcoming Fryeburg Fair. (Staff photo by John Balentine)]('')

I’ll be there in a couple weeks ?

On the Cross Island Parkway heading towards the Throgg's Neck Bridge. I forget the name of the Bay and the Marina but I have passed it thousands of times.

On the Cross Island Parkway heading towards the Throgg's Neck Bridge. I forget the name of the Bay and the Marina but I have passed it thousands of times.

now I recognize the area - like you don't know its name

On the Cross Island Parkway heading towards the Throgg's Neck Bridge. I forget the name of the Bay and the Marina but I have passed it thousands of times.

Little neck bay?

Little neck bay?

Bayside Marina

When I was 5 or 6, we used to walk there from our apartment in Bay Terrace, beach comb for clams, mussels and star fish, then watch the anglers catch endless flounder from the pier with their fancy spreader rigs.
We used to try too, but my dad didn't know you you needed a sinker to stay on the bottom. He was used to fresh water fishing, baited our unweighted hooks with self-dug earthworms, the way we used to fish for white perch from a boat, and wondered why everyone else was catching flounder.
Then we'd walk to Ft. Totten and I'd climb on the tanks, half tracks and artillery equipment they had scattered around the grounds.
Who needed the internet? But maybe he could have looked up "how to catch flounder!"

?

I was gonna say about 10 miles south of Cape Charles Virginia - Fishermen's Island just before you get on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel based on the lighthouse but I don't think so & if you were I'd be REALLY pissed f you didn't stop by to say hi

?

THE END

THE END

Agreed. The structure next to the light tower is the giveaway. What exactly is that??

Agreed. The structure next to the light tower is the giveaway. What exactly is that

I believe its a radio beacon or fire control station used during the war.

I was gonna say about 10 miles south of Cape Charles Virginia - Fishermen's Island just before you get on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel based on the lighthouse but I don't think so & if you were I'd be REALLY pissed f you didn't stop by to say hi

Yeah not even close

Agreed. The structure next to the light tower is the giveaway. What exactly is that

Yeah not even close

Yes Sir, thats far off from Montauk Point but I have been to where he mentions since I have family down his way and been before.

The structure next to the the light house is known as the missile tower to young ones.

The structure next to the the light house is known as the missile tower to young ones.

Yes, but it’s not a silo. What exactly is it?? So damn ugly, hope it has a redeeming function. Spent 10 min Googling it and didn’t find a thing.

Yes, but it’s not a silo. What exactly is it?? So damn ugly, hope it has a redeeming function. Spent 10 min Googling it and didn’t find a thing.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.us-lighthouses.com/montauk-point-lighthouse[/URL]