Lockdown extended to May 3, they announced today.

Outside my daughter’s favorite Fire Island Bakery before she moved out of Anchorage there were these gorgeous trees with berries in clusters ranging from bright red and matte to shiny and black. I took pictures and tried to find out what they were and wondered if the bakery ever put them to use? Were they edible? I saw no sign of them except outside on those trees. I thought you weren’t supposed to plant fruit trees in town for fear of attracting brown bears? (Fun fact: Brown bears are not quite grizzlies: genetically they are, but they’re the ones living off salmon near the coast and they’re 25% bigger than their inland kin.)

I finally got curious to go look hard enough–ie, thank the lockdown for that. I don’t know if these are the May Day variety or a less invasive one, but, they are chokecherries. Good for attracting birds for the customers in the cafe to watch while munching their incredible tartes.

Repels moose. (And surely doesn’t attract bears either, though they didn’t mention.)

Except the ones who are winter-hungry enough or young enough not to know better around a nasty-tasting plant that is by no means native to Alaska and crowds out their favorite willows that are.

Those limbs and leaves are full of cyanide and those ruminants in particular are perfectly designed to get the fullest effects quickly.

Chokecherry trees are popular because they stay pretty and unchomped there–until the day you wake up and have to figure out how to get a huge Agatha Christied moose off your lawn.

If you want moose sausage, stick to roadkill.