Moose; it's a Hard Life

[NorthernFocus]

This bull moose has been hanging out in our yard for the past four days. Biologists say moose lose up to a third of their body weight over the course of the winter. By this time of year they've been months with almost nothing to eat. Nothing green is sprouting yet. There are a few buds starting to show on the alder and willow which they nibble off the branches. And out of desperation they gnaw the bark off of trees/bushes. The bark has little nutritional value but it helps fill their bellies. And to make things even harder the bulls start growing their antlers which takes a lot of energy and minerals when they're at their weakest. Fortunately the cows don't calve until May/June when there's more nutrition for them to produce milk.

1) Conserving energy laying around chewing his cudd. Note the antler nubs. They've grown a couple of inches in four days.

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2) Nibbling what few tender shoots he can find.

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3) Taking a drink.

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4) Gnawing bark.

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[KurtT]

This bull moose has been hanging out in our yard for the past four days. Biologists say moose lose up to a third of their body weight over the course of the winter. By this time of year they've been months with almost nothing to eat. Nothing green is sprouting yet. There are a few buds starting to show on the alder and willow which they nibble off the branches. And out of desperation they gnaw the bark off of trees/bushes. The bark has little nutritional value but it helps fill their bellies. And to make things even harder the bulls start growing their antlers which takes a lot of energy and minerals when they're at their weakest. Fortunately the cows don't calve until May/June when there's more nutrition for them to produce milk.

1) Conserving energy laying around chewing his cudd. Note the antler nubs. They've grown a couple of inches in four days.
View attachment 36548

2) Nibbling what few tender shoots he can find.
View attachment 36549

3) Taking a drink.
View attachment 36550

4) Gnawing bark.
View attachment 36551

Nice lawn ornaments, guess beats flamingos but I wouldn't want to clean up after them! Nature didn't plan the antlers well, growing during famine period oh well. Nice pics. That is an animal that I haven't secured many good pics of yet. Usually if seen, There is a horde of people that are vying for position to get a picture. Why did the eye capture box record on pic?

 

[NorthernFocus]

Nice lawn ornaments, guess beats flamingos but I wouldn't want to clean up after them! Nature didn't plan the antlers well, growing during famine period oh well. Nice pics. That is an animal that I haven't secured many good pics of yet. Usually if seen, There is a horde of people that are vying for position to get a picture. Why did the eye capture box record on pic?

Oh, I made a mistake on the capture box pic. I made a screen shot from NX Studio for demonstration purposes then copied the wrong image to this thread. Corrected now. In Alaska it's not cool to take pics of moose. Only tourists do that. But you can get away with it when they're in your own yard

 

[Wink Jones]

I really like that your photos are giving the impression that these Moose are REALLY BIG animals. I have been close to two bulls while bow hunting Elk in the Kelly Creek area in Idaho, and another time in the same area when I was running down a trail keeping a large bull elk in sight that was across a draw from me and had been wounded by another hunter. I heard a loud snort and came to a sudden stop only to find I had accidentally run between a mother Moose and her calf. She was hot and I was trying to figure my way out of this one. I was in deep doo doo and a bow was not going to get me out of it.

I tried to shoo her away but I had my elk call in my mouth and the loud sound that came out only cranked her up another notch. What saved my poor, badly frightened, behind was my sister and the wife of one of the other members of our hunting party were sitting on the hillside talking after all of us "big bad bowhunters" had bailed off of our horses when we jumped a heard of elk. They heard me blat at the cow and her calf and started giggling. That scared the mother and she took off for parts unknown and the calf decided to follow. It is mighty embarrassing to have to admit that two girls giggling saved my bacon...

 

[NorthernFocus]

I really like that your photos are giving the impression that these Moose are REALLY BIG animals. I have been close to two bulls while bow hunting Elk in the Kelly Creek area in Idaho, and another time in the same area when I was running down a trail keeping a large bull elk in sight that was across a draw from me and had been wounded by another hunter. I heard a loud snort and came to a sudden stop only to find I had accidentally run between a mother Moose and her calf. She was hot and I was trying to figure my way out of this one. I was in deep doo doo and a bow was not going to get me out of it.

I tried to shoo her away but I had my elk call in my mouth and the loud sound that came out only cranked her up another notch. What saved my poor, badly frightened, behind was my sister and the wife of one of the other members of our hunting party were sitting on the hillside talking after all of us "big bad bowhunters" had bailed off of our horses when we jumped a heard of elk. They heard me blat at the cow and her calf and started giggling. That scared the mother and she took off for parts unknown and the calf decided to follow. It is mighty embarrassing to have to admit that two girls giggling saved my bacon...

Up here cows and young bulls are the most troublesome. The big boys pretty much ignore you. They get a bit testy with dogs and that can spill over once they are riled. It can get a bit dicey to get cross ways with one in an area without any trees big enough to hide behind.

 

[Wink Jones]

Up here cows and young bulls are the most troublesome. The big boys pretty much ignore you.

Agreed, I edged up very slowly on the two big bulls, always keeping some thick brush between me and them. I was well within my effective bow range of 40 yards, and if I had drawn a tag I was probably young and dumb enough to have taken a shot. At one point the closer of the two bulls, a beauty by the way, raised his head and looked directly at me, then went back to grazing. I very slowly edged back out away from them and continued climbing the last thousand feet of the hill I had to cross. Probably a good thing I did not have a tag. It would have taken me weeks to have eaten him and I did not have a fork with me that day...

 

[jeffnles1]

I really like that your photos are giving the impression that these Moose are REALLY BIG animals. I have been close to two bulls while bow hunting Elk in the Kelly Creek area in Idaho, and another time in the same area when I was running down a trail keeping a large bull elk in sight that was across a draw from me and had been wounded by another hunter. I heard a loud snort and came to a sudden stop only to find I had accidentally run between a mother Moose and her calf. She was hot and I was trying to figure my way out of this one. I was in deep doo doo and a bow was not going to get me out of it.

I tried to shoo her away but I had my elk call in my mouth and the loud sound that came out only cranked her up another notch. What saved my poor, badly frightened, behind was my sister and the wife of one of the other members of our hunting party were sitting on the hillside talking after all of us "big bad bowhunters" had bailed off of our horses when we jumped a heard of elk. They heard me blat at the cow and her calf and started giggling. That scared the mother and she took off for parts unknown and the calf decided to follow. It is mighty embarrassing to have to admit that two girls giggling saved my bacon...

In Denali I was taking some macro shots of wildflowers. Laying prone on the ground for about 10 minutes shooting the flowers. I heard a stick snap and looked over to my right and saw a moose calf about 25 yards off. Oh that's cute. Then I heard a bigger stick snap to my left. Oh mama and I'm between them. I started crawling backwards hoping mama wouldn't see me. That didn't work as she took another couple steps toward me.

I stood up and started walking as fast as I could backwards talking in a smooth voice. She followed me up the trail about 30 feet or so and then veered over toward her baby.

I'm from the East where the deer will run when they see you and black bears will either run or slowly walk off when you stand up (unless they think you have food or you startle one). I wasn't familiar with moose protocol. I didn't want to run and as big as she was I didn't think making myself look bigger would intimidate her so retreat was the better part of valor that day.

Jeff
here is a photo I took of mama after she decided I was far enough away from her baby. Still giving me the "stink eye" though.

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[Wink Jones]

I didn't want to run and as big as she was I didn't think making myself look bigger would intimidate her so retreat was the better part of valor that day.

You have me chuckling. When I "met" my Moose Mama I had not yet started talking to wild animals. Now that I mostly hunt with a camera, I find talking softly to my subjects a useful tool to get them to look at me without running away in a panic when they realize I am there..

 

[Ralph]

This bull moose has been hanging out in our yard for the past four days. Biologists say moose lose up to a third of their body weight over the course of the winter. By this time of year they've been months with almost nothing to eat. Nothing green is sprouting yet. There are a few buds starting to show on the alder and willow which they nibble off the branches. And out of desperation they gnaw the bark off of trees/bushes. The bark has little nutritional value but it helps fill their bellies. And to make things even harder the bulls start growing their antlers which takes a lot of energy and minerals when they're at their weakest. Fortunately the cows don't calve until May/June when there's more nutrition for them to produce milk.

1) Conserving energy laying around chewing his cudd. Note the antler nubs. They've grown a couple of inches in four days.
View attachment 36548

2) Nibbling what few tender shoots he can find.
View attachment 36549

3) Taking a drink.
View attachment 36550

4) Gnawing bark.
View attachment 36552

Love the photos. I‘ e only seen a moose in person once in my life. In Newfoundland , while traveling slowly down a dirt road one stopped in front of my car. It appeared to be a young female but not sure. I’ve never seen a photo of male moose with antler buds. Any picture I’ve ever seen, the male alway had a full rack.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Love the photos. I‘ e only seen a moose in person once in my life. In Newfoundland , while traveling slowly down a dirt road one stopped in front of my car. It appeared to be a young female but not sure. I’ve never seen a photo of male moose with antler buds. Any picture I’ve ever seen, the male alway had a full rack.

In winter when the antlers are off the males can be identified by their full on beard(aka dewlap) compared to the females little goatee. Here's a good comparison shot below. It's even more dramatic with younger males which will have a long tassel hanging down. Older males rarely have the tassel because in severe winters it gets frost bitten and eventually falls off.

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[Rassie]

Nice series, Dan. And quite informative, thanks for the information.

 

[Ralph]

In winter when the antlers are off the males can be identified by their full on beard(aka dewlap) compared to the females little goatee. Here's a good comparison shot below. It's even more dramatic with younger males which will have a long tassel hanging down. Older males rarely have the tassel because in severe winters it gets frost bitten and eventually falls off.

View attachment 36592

Great shot Dan. Thanks for the info. Now I’m sure the one I saw was a female.