More Moose Facts

The largest wild animal in North America, the moose has keen hearing and sense of smell, but it doesn't see very well; it is nearsighted.

A moose can have a range of five to fifty square miles.

A powerful swimmer, a moose can swim thirty-six miles per hour. Moose can swim faster than a man can paddle a canoe. When pressed, they can fight off a grizzly bear.

The fastest human runners can run a mile in just under four minutes. If they could maintain that pace for an hour, how far would they go?

Here are two bumper stickers commonly seen in northern New Hampshire. What do you think these bumper stickers mean?

1. "Moose is good food."
2. "Brake for moose-It could save your life."

"Moose"

The word "moose" probably comes from the Algonkian word "mons" or "moz" which means "twig-eater," and, indeed, moose do eat a variety of trees including willows, trembling aspen, redosier dogwood, red maple, striped maple, and striped birch. They also eat aquatic plants such as water shield, yellow pond lily, and pond weed. (Paraphrased from www.mooseworld.com) A moose eats 40-60 pounds of browse (vegetation) daily.

Moose Jobs

Perhaps the most surprising thing about moose is that they can serve as domestic animals. During the Middle Ages, they were used as draft animals and people rode them. A moose can pull a sled carrying 900-kilogram loads through swamps and over dry terrain that would stop any horse. Moreover, in Russia, scientists have found that moose make excellent dairy animals, giving as much as 430 liters of highly nutritious milk. The only obstacle to keeping moose domestically is their fairly specialized food needs. When researchers tried to enrich their diet with barley, oats, or wheat bran, the moose developed digestive problems. But, in typically odd moose fashion, it turns out that a diet of potatoes works very well. (Source: Earthwatch Institute-2001 Research and Exploration, p. 56, Earthwatch Expeditions, Inc. 2001)

Breeding

The "rut" (breeding) season is mid-September to mid-October. Bulls (male moose) begin to breed when they are five years or older, and cows (female moose) begin to breed when they are one and a half years old. A cow will have her first calf (baby moose) when she is about two years old. Twins are common after the cow is four years old, and occasionally triplets are born! Calves are born late-May to early-June and weigh 20-25 pounds at birth. By fall, a calf will weigh 300-400 pounds. The calf stays with its mother until it is almost a year old, and then she drives it off (chases it away) as she prepares for the new calf she will have that spring.

Predators

Black bears prey on calves until they are about nine weeks old. Studies of bones found in the forest indicate that black bears may kill 75% of calves in their first eight weeks. Coyotes also take some calves.

Lifespan and Threats

Moose may live as long as twenty years, but the average life span is 5-6 years. One of the greatest threats to moose is the automobile. There are several reasons why moose and automobiles often collide

Moose are active around dusk and sunrise when there is little light and there is often fog in their habitat, so they can be difficult to see.
Moose eyes don't reflect light as deer eyes do, again making them difficult to see from a distance at night.
Their dark coats make them almost invisible at night. Moose-automobile collisions often result in injury or death to both the moose and the occupants of the vehicle as well as significant damage to the automobile.

Prior to European settlement, moose were more common than deer in North America. There were less than 15 in New Hampshire in the 1800s, however. There numbers have rebounded from the 1970s to the present. There are now about 9600 moose just in New Hampshire! (source: www.wildlife.state.nh.us/moose_facts)