Moose

Canada's forests extend from the Alaska boundary to the eastern tip of Newfoundland. All regions of this vast and varied tract have one thing in common: they all support moose.

Moose are found on the rocky, wooded hillsides of the western mountain ranges; along the margins of half a million lakes, muskegs, and streams of the great boreal forest; and even on the northern tundra and in the aspen parkland of the Prairie Provinces.

It is estimated that there are between 500 000 and 1 million moose in Canada. The moose as a big­game animal is prized by recreational hunters. However, it is much more than that to people who live in the North, there, the moose is an important source of food. It is also an important link in the food chain supporting predators like bears and wolves and scavengers like ravens.

The moose is the largest member of the deer family -- whose North American members also include elk (wapiti), white­tailed deer, mule deer, and caribou. Moose are not unique to North America but are also common in northern Europe and Asia.

General appearance

A bull moose in full spread of antlers is the most imposing beast in North America. It stands taller at the shoulder than the largest saddle horse. Big bulls weigh as much as a horse -- up to 600 kg in most of Canada and as much as 800 kg for the giant Alaska­Yukon subspecies.

Moose have long, slim legs that end in cloven hooves often more than 18 cm long. The body is deep at the shoulders, where massive muscles are attached, giving the animal a humped appearance. It is slab­sided and low­rumped, with rather slim hindquarters and a short, well­haired stubby tail. The head is heavy and compact, and the nose extends in a long, mournful­looking arch terminating in a long, flexible upper lip. The ears are similar to those of a mule, although not quite as long. From the throat of most moose hangs a pendant of fur­covered skin, perhaps 30 cm long, called a bell.

In colour the moose varies from dark brown, almost black, to reddish or greyish brown, with grey or white leg "stockings."

In late summer and autumn, a mature bull carries a great sometimes almost white rack of antlers which may extend 180 cm or more between the widest tips, but which are more often 120­150 cm in span. The heavy main beams broaden into large palms which are fringed with a series of spikes usually less than 30 cm long.

Life history

At birth a calf moose is a tiny, ungainly copy of its mother. If it is one of twins it may weigh 6 kg; if born singly, between 11 and 16 kg.

Calves are helpless at birth. The mother keeps them in seclusion for a couple of days, hidden from their many enemies in a thicket or on an island. The voice of a newborn calf is a low grunt, but after a few days it develops a strident wail that is almost human. At the age of only a few days it can outrun a human, and swim readily.

Of all North American big­game animals, the moose calf gains weight fastest. During the first month after birth it may gain over half a kilogram per day, and later in the summer may begin to put on over 2 kg per day for a time.

Calves stay with the cow until she calves again the following spring. At that time she drive off her yearling calves -- no doubt a difficult experience for the "teenage" moose.

A bull calf may develop button antlers during its first year. New antlers are grown each summer and shed each autumn. Mature animals usually shed their antlers in November, but some younger bulls may carry theirs through the winter until April. Yearling bulls usually have spike antlers, and the antlers of two­year­olds are larger, usually flat at the ends.

The antlers begin growing in midsummer and during the period of growth are soft and spongy, with blood vessels running through them. They are covered with a velvety skin. By late August or early September the antlers are fully developed and are hard and bony. The velvet dries and the bulls rub it off against tree trunks.

The eyesight of the moose is extremely poor, but its senses of smell and hearing compensate for this. Before bedding down, a moose usually travels upwind for a time and then swings back in a partial circle. Thus predators on its track will have to approach from windward. Skilled hunters know when to leave the track and work their way upwind to the hiding­place of their quarry.

Hunters may stalk moose, or may call them during the breeding season. A skilful hunter, imitating the cow's call, usually with the aid of a birchbark horn, can entice a bull within shooting distance.

Feeding habits

The moose lives almost solely on twigs and shrubs during the winter months. In summer this diet is varied with leaves, some upland plants, and water plants in great quantity where available. A large adult moose eats 15­20 kg, green weight, of twigs each day in winter, and in summer eats 25­30 kg of forage -- twigs, leaves, shrubs, upland plants, and water plants.

Winter forage includes twigs of balsam fir, poplar, red osier dogwood, birch, willow, and red and striped maples.

Moose also eat small amounts of many other trees and shrubs. When food becomes scarce, as it often does toward spring, moose will strip bark from trees, especially poplars. In June and July, moose gather around salt licks, usually low­lying areas of stagnant, mineral­rich water. At that season, they are feeding heavily on leaves and other lush plant growth and seem to require supplementary minerals.

Breeding habits

Moose sometimes take more than one mate, but usually a bull stays with a given cow during most of the breeding season. The breeding season, or rut, begins in mid­September, and the listener in moose country may hear the nasal­toned bawling of the cow moose enticing a mate, and the coughing bellow of the responding bull.

A good food supply improves breeding success. On good range over 90% of the cows become pregnant and up to 30% bear twins. Very rarely, triplets are observed. However, when the food supply is poor, rates of pregnancy can drop to 50%, and the twinning rate almost to zero.

Adaptation to environment

The long legs of the moose carry it easily over deadfall trees or through snow that would stop a deer or wolf. Its cloven hooves and dew claws spread widely to provide support when it wades through soft muskeg or snow. With its tremendous physical power and vitality, the moose can travel over almost any terrain. When frightened it may crash noisily through the underbrush, but in spite of its great size even a full­grown, antlered bull can move almost as silently as a cat through dense forest.

Moose stand cold very well but suffer from heat. In summer, especially when the fly season is in progress, moose often cool off in water for several hours each day. They also dip their heads under the surface to feed on water lilies and other water plants.

Moose are quite at home in the water. They sometimes dive 5.5 m or more for plants growing on a lake or pond bottom. Moose have been known to swim 19 km. Of all North American deer, only the caribou is a more powerful swimmer. A moose calf is able to follow its mother on a long swim even while very young, occasionally resting its muzzle on the cow's back for support.

Enemies and hazards

Black and grizzly bears have been known to prey heavily on moose calves during the first few weeks of life while grizzly bears easily kill adult moose.

Wolves also kill many calves and take adult moose all year. Throughout most wolf range in Canada, moose are the principal prey of wolves. In winter, wolves usually hunt in packs. Hunting healthy adult moose is a difficult and often dangerous business for wolves. Only about one confrontation in 12 ends with the wolves successfully killing a moose. Wolves not infrequently suffer broken bones and even death from the flailing hooves of cornered moose. A healthy and aggressive moose is usually able to stand off wolves. However, in deep crusted snow, or on smooth ice, a pack can easily bring down a moose. They usually run up beside their quarry and rip the tender flanks until the moose is weakened from loss of blood. In the end, wolves get almost every moose. Few die of old age.

Wolverine also prey on moose calves occasionally. Where they coexist with moose, cougar take a substantial number of moose calves and yearlings.

Deer, elk, rabbits, and even beaver compete with the moose for food.

Ticks are common on moose, especially in late winter, and may weaken animals seriously both by sucking blood and by causing the affected moose to rub off much of its hair, causing serious heat loss. Internal parasites such as the hydatid-a tiny tapeworm-affect moose, especially when lack of forage and heavy tick infestation lower their resistance.

Another serious parasitic disease of moose is caused by the meningeal worm, so called because it attacks the meninges, or membranes, surrounding the brain and spinal chord. Meningeal worm is a parasite of white­tailed deer, who are adapted to it. However, it is deadly to moose, and there is a long history of moose mortality in regions where the two species overlap in their distribution.

Moose drift to the willow­rich valleys or other areas where good forage exists close to forest cover. Winter is a time of hunger for moose. They restrict their food intake and limit their activity to save energy. Where there is limited predation and hunting, moose numbers may increase to the point where food is inadequate and many animals starve while all are malnourished and more likely to be killed by predators or disease. Concentrations of up to 135 animals per 10 km2 have been seen in Wells Grey Provincial Park in British Columbia.

Changes due to humans

Since the beginning of settlement in Canada there have been considerable shifts in the distribution of moose. They are found in many regions which had no moose in presettlement days. There are now large moose populations in north­central Ontario, and in the southern part of British Columbia, where moose were previously unknown. They have only recently spread to the Quebec North Shore, north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The island of Newfoundland, which had never been occupied by moose, was "seeded" with a few pair in the early 1900s and now has large populations. Moose are constantly spreading northwards through the sparse transition forest that extends to the open tundra.

Before settlement, the large supplies of woody twigs needed by moose were provided by young forest regrowth in the wake of forest fires. With settlement came control of wildlife, fires still occur but have been widely replaced by clear­cut cut logging as a source of forest renewal and of moose forage.

Management of moose

Moose populations must be kept within the limits set by the food supply to prevent starvation, disease, and serious damage to vegetation. Foresters in areas that are overpopulated by moose find that regeneration of forest trees is harmed significantly. This may seriously reduce future timber crops as well as the breeding habitat of songbirds that nest in deciduous shrubs. Moose numbers are controlled to a varying degree by predators and also by hunting.

Moose are an important economic resource in Canada. Moose hunting generates over $500 million dollars in economic activity annually and provides large amounts of food for aboriginal and other rural people. Moose are a major element in the complex of wildlife attractions that draw visitors to parks and other wildlands for nature viewing and study. These activities also result in large expenditures.

Moose respond well to management of their habitat by logging or controlled burning, provided a diversity of open areas and patches of larger trees for cover is maintained. Today, moose management in Canada is soundly based on aerial counts, habitat inventories, and scientific studies of reproductive rates and calf survival. Moose get along well with human activities and with appropriate management will always be part of the Canadian scene.

Reading list

• Alces. A journal devoted to the biology and management of moose. Lakehead University School of Forestry, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
• Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The mammals of Canada, University of Toronto Press. Toronto.
• Berry, W.D. 1965. Deneki, an Alaska moose. University of Toronto Press. Toronto.
• Chapman, J.A. and G.A. Feldhammer.1982. Wild mammals of North America. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
• Hoshino, M. 1988. Moose. Chronicale Books. San Francisco.
• Murie, O.J. 1974. A field guide to animal tracks. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston. Peterson, R.L. 1955. North American moose. University of Toronto Press. Toronto. Seton, E.T. 1929. Lives of game animals. Volume III. Doubleday. New York. van Wormer, J. 1972. The world of the moose. J.B. Lipincott Co. New York.

	Canadian Wildlife Service - Hinterland Who's Who series Reproduced with permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1999. Copyright © 1999 Environment Canada. All rights reserved. Last update: 19 January 1999