American moose populations appear to be stable or increasing across most of their North American range.
With over 800,000 moose including all four North-American sub-species -Eastern Moose, Western Moose, Shiras Moose and yukon-Alaska Moose- Canada is home of the largest moose population in the world.
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This horse-sized animal is the largest member of the deer family with long, dark brown hair, high, humped shoulders and long legs.
Native American and early settlers depended on the moose for survival. Today they are still highly prized for their huge quantities of fine tasting meat and
tremendous trophies. The largest moose antlers known have an 81" spread.
Moose are mostly active at night, but can be seen any time of the day. Most sightings
occur at dusk or dawn.
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Though usually solitary, traveling singly or in small family
units of a cow and a calf, several may gather to feed near lakes or streams. Breeding,
or rutting season lasts from mid-September through October. Calves are born in May or
June, and remain with their mother until next year's birthing. Twins are the norm
for healthy adult cows. Moose have a life expectancy of 8 to 12 years in the wild.
Some causes of death, aside from legal hunting, include collisions with cars,
poaching, parasites, and malnutrition due to gum disease. Moose prefer browsing
on trees and shrubs, usually maple and aspen, year round. During summer months,
they eat succulent, sodium rich, aquatic vegetation in or near swamps, bogs,
and wet forest edges. Common feeding places are cleared areas resulting from
timber harvest benefit the moose by making small trees and shrubs more easily
available.
Moose Habits
Despite its size, the moose moves silently through the forest,
although if frightened they can crash away at speeds of up to
34 mph. This species is an excellent swimmer and frequently wades into lakes
and streams to feed on vegetation - often submerging to reach the roots
and stems at the bottom. Moose require an estimated 44 lb of food every day.
In order to meet this criteria, some populations migrate during the year
- covering up to 110 miles in North America and 180 miles in Europe.
Whether sedentary or migrational, moose utilize specific home ranges,
varying in size from 2 to 17 square miles. During the mating season, females make a long moan, while the mating call of males is a croak.
Males compete for a single female at a time, using elaborate displays
and antler shoving to determine who shall gain mating privileges.
Population densities average at 0.1 to 2 animals per square mile.
 
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Current Distribution
The first mooses made their way to the continent
from Asia half million years ago by crossing the Bering Land Bridge.
Moving south from what would become Alaska, the species gradually
spread into and across Canadian forestlands and in time reached the
present day United States.
Today 4 moose sub-species inhabit
North America with most still found in Alaska and Canada; the yakon-Alaska Moose, the Northwestern Moose, the Eastern Moose, and the Shiras Moose.
Huntable numbers abide in about half of the states.
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Reproduction
The 25 to 35 pound calf is usually born in late May or early June after a gestation period of about 246 days. Studies have shown that only about 50% of the cows are actually bred each fall. This relatively low breeding rate is partly due to the fact that cows are not sexually mature until their third fall. Another contributing cause of a low birth rate might be that even though the cows are receptive for the bulls for five to eight days, they are only receptive to actual copulation for a period of 24 hours. A bull might have to attend each cow for a week to be certain to be there for the critical period. Long attendance and a fairly short rut period means a bull might service only two or possibly three cows each year.
Nature attempts to re-dress this low breeding ratio by having unbred cows coming into heat every 24 to 26 days. Unfortunately, calves conceived later in the fall are born later in the springtime. Late born calves are usually sired by younger, unproven bulls. This fact, when combined with a late spring arrival, means smaller, weaker calves isn't much better than 60% (less if the cow is removed) and late calves have even less odds for survival.
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The Moose Has a Keen Sense of Smell
The moose has a sense of smell that some biologists consider comparable to that
of a bloodhound. Moose nostrils are lined by the epithelium, containing sensory
nerve endings covered by a mucous membrane. Scent molecules, in-haled
into the nose, disolve on contact. The chemical information is converted
into an electrical impulse and carried by the nervous system to one of
the two large olfactory bulbs.
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The signals then sent from the olfactory bulbs bypass the thalamus (the only one of the senses that can bypass the thalamus) and go directly to the sub-centres of the brain that process emotions.
To a hunter this means that the smell of a human might , depending on the animal experience with humans, directly stimulate the emotional centres causing an immediate and unconscious reaction (usually fight).
If we combine this unconscious behavioural response to certain negative smells with the known size of a moose's nasal apertures (about the size of a deer's entire head) we can begin to appreciate the practically unbelieveable importance that a moose attaches to scent.
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Moose Sense of Hearing
The moose's hearing is exceptionally sharp. The
pinna, or external portion of the ear is about 8 inches long and perhaps
4 inches across. The cupped surfaces measure
about 10"x 6" when flattened. This gives the moose about 60 square inches
per ear of moveable reception area. In comparison, a human has 3 to 4 square
inches per ear.
In additon, the auditory canal opening is about twice the size of a human
or a white-tailed deer. The ears can swivel to very accurately triangulate
any source
of sound. As if all of this wasn't enough, tests suggest that their upper
hearing range is twice, and perhaps three times higher than ours. They could
be hearing
sound waves that we aren't even aware we're making!
About Eyesight
Moose have quite good eyesight, though not exeptional by wildlife standarts. Their sight
is based on the ability to detect motion. If it doesn't move, it can often escape
detection. I suppose that historically if somethimg didn't move it didn't represent
a threat abd could be safely ignored: aenn but evaluated as armless.
Due to a shortage of cones which give color sensitivity to vision, moose are not aware
of color. Their retina is composed mainly of rod cells. Rods would register the world
as a spectrum of varying grey. Rods also provide excellent low-light and motion
capability, but don't give moose the acuity or sharpness of detail that humans enjoy.
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The
North American Moose