Lenny the Chocolate Moose

Lenny is an animal-sized tribute to chocolate, and to the state of Maine. A 1,700-pound behemoth, Lenny is a milk-chocolate moose, the star of an edible animal habitat hidden inside of Len Libby Candies, a chocolatier in Scarborough, Maine. 

Lenny’s pals are some dark chocolate black bears: 380-pound Mama Libby and her cubs, Cocoa and Chip, who are 80 pounds each. The sweet animals coexist happily around a blue-tinted white chocolate pond, in which Lenny stands magisterially, looking upon the store’s candy offerings.

Lenny was created in 1997.  The sculptor commissioned to make him slathered milk chocolate over a moose-shaped wire lath, then carved and smoothed, toiling over delicious chocolate for a month until Lenny took form. A video documenting his creation plays on a loop at the store today. Eight feet tall and nine feet wide, he’s a true feast for the eyes. The animal habitat is fenced off: In chocolate form, Lenny and co. are endangered species and must remain situated next to the store’s ice cream station so they stay cool.

The choice of star animal is probably an homage to Maine’s large moose population, second only to Alaska in the United States.