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Moose on the Loose
Moose in Colorado Of Moose and Men Know Your Moose Moose Haunts

Images of Bullwinkle aside, the moose is a magnificent animal. Standing six feet tall at the shoulder and weighing up to half a ton, the moose is the largest species of wildlife in Colorado. Females are smaller than males, ranging from 600 to 800 pounds. By comparison, the grizzly bear, generally considered a sizable animal, stands about four feet tall at the shoulder and weighs 300 to 600 pounds, based upon records of grizzlies killed in Colorado. (Grizzly bears have not been seen in the wild in our state since 1979.)

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Picture a marshy mountain meadow set against a dark spruce forest, with a willow-lined stream meandering through it. There's no sign of wildlife until a moose head rises into view above the willows, water streaming from its face and strands of marsh plants dripping from its mouth. Moose inhabit high mountain wetlands at the edge of forests. From spring through fall they feast on lush green growth including sedges, grasses, aquatic plants and wildflowers. The best habitat for moose is a wet meadow in the early stages of succession following fire, logging or beaver activity. The vigorous green vegetation found in such areas pro-vides the nutrition and bulk moose need. During the warm months, when these meadows offer a sort of all-you-can-eat moose buffet, one moose may consume as much as 24 pounds of forage per day. Come winter, when food is harder to find, moose browse on the stems, buds, leaves and bark of trees and shrubs, and their consump-tion falls to a mere 11 pounds per day-bistro dining. Stored fat from summer gluttony sustains the moose through those leaner times.

A look at the range map for moose in North America shows they are animals of northern forests, inhabiting most of Alaska and Canada below the Arctic Circle, extending into northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, upper New England and Maine. A slender finger of moose range extends down the Rockies through Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, just touching into Colorado and northern Utah.

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Like other deer, moose breed in autumn, from mid-September to early November. Preoccupied with the rites of fall, their necks and shoul-ders swollen for the rut, male moose spend little time foraging. At this time the bulls become quite belligerent, thrashing shrubs with their antlers, bellowing and moaning, and chal-lenging and fighting other males. This is not the time to wander aimlessly among the willows in moose country. An agitated bull moose, which can sprint at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, may charge anything in its path. Being thundered down upon by a 1,000-pound rutting moose would ruin anyone's outdoor experience. It is wise any time of year when hiking in moose habitat to be alert for the presence of moose and avoid coming too close, as cows with calves may charge if they are surprised by a hiker and feel threatened.

The moose rut is less of "an event" than elk breeding. Bull moose don't bugle in the fall and they don't gather harems of females, so don't expect to see mountain meadows filled with moose during the rut. Instead, males must locate females within their breeding range, and one bull only effectively mates with two or three cows a season.

By mid-winter, with the breeding season over, bull moose lose their antlers, then immediately start growing a new set. Moose spend the winter foraging and can paw through snow nearly a foot and a half deep to reach food. While herds of elk may be a familiar image in the Colorado mountains, don't look for herds of moose. Moose are solitary animals. A cow with calf is the only common social grouping. Winter sometimes brings several individuals together in riparian areas, which offer cover and food, but this is more a response to available resources and conditions than a social interaction. Each moose forages within a home range, but moose do not defend territories against each other.

Calves are born in late May and early June, usually a single young, though twins are not unusual, occurring in 11 to 29 percent of births. Where food is abundant and the moose popula-tion small, twins are more likely.

Further north, wolves are the principal predators of moose. Bears also kill some moose, primarily calves. In Colorado, however, moose live a relatively preda-tion-free existence-they don't occupy prime black bear habitat, there are no wolves, and predators like coyotes, mountain lions and domestic dogs take little toll. Illegal shooting, usually from hunters mistaking moose for elk, is the primary cause of mortality.

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As Coloradans get used to seeing moose, they can be forgiven for thinking them a little funny-looking. Even people who have lived close to moose for generations think them a bit oddly-designed. In a story told by -the Abenaki Indians of southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, when the Creator first made a moose, it came out too large. But trying to squeeze the moose down into a smaller size didn't work too well either, leaving the moose with a long body, humped back and big, square nose.

At least that's a better explanation for the moose's appearance than that it was put together by a committee.

Next: Of Moose and Men

(The information contained in this issue of Colorado's Wildlife Company was accurate at the time of original publication. Situations and circumstances described, staff positions, contact information, and dates of some events may have changed in the interim. Present knowledge and understanding of biological and behavioral facts and information may also be different, now, than presented here.)