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Driving north of Oquossoc, I spotted the huge creature at the last second, avoiding a serious accident while the cow trotted on her way. Such encounters are common, with roughly 300 collisions annually. Accidents involving deer are far more common, but a moose causes extensive vehicle damage. Human deaths are rare, thanks to education, signage and safer vehicles.
The largest member of the deer family is wildly popular with tourists, as shown by Byron the moose at the Maine Wildlife Park until his recent death. Visitors to Maine often ask where they can find moose, right after saying they are headed to Acadia National Park.
Eight subspecies of moose live worldwide, with four in North America — western moose, Alaska-Yukon moose, Shiras moose and eastern moose (Alces alces americana). They vary in size, appearance and habitat, with Alaska moose being the largest. Maine moose approach 7 feet at the shoulder, with bulls averaging 1,000 pounds.
Native Americans revered the moose, named from the Algonquin word “moosu,” meaning “eater of twigs” or “bark stripper.” The animal was an important source of food, bones and hide. Some clans used the moose as their totem in a sign of respect.
Logging practices combined with conservation ensure vast areas of ideal habitat. Moose are browsers, daily consuming up to 70 pounds of leaves, buds and twigs, along with succulent wetland plants, unless winter weather drives them to eat bark and young conifers. Moose need 15,000 calories or more daily, requiring up to 10 hours of grazing.
Maple, aspen, birch and willow are desirable foods, and in summer, pondweed and water lilies provide vital sodium. In winter, moose seek balsam fir, and they lick salt off roads and vehicles.
Their cloven hooves are 5 inches wide, and their coat is extremely heavy to protect them from insects and winter cold.
Adults carry a growth on their neck known as a bell or dewlap. These reach 20 inches and play a role in breeding success, as mature bulls have the largest bells. The bell carries scent and disperses pheromones as the animals move through the forest.
The bull’s palmated antlers reach 60 inches and 40 pounds. They are used for breeding displays and fighting. Large antlers indicate dominance and protect the eyes in battle. Antlers drop in early winter to conserve energy. In the spring, new antlers sprout from the pedicles with a soft coating called velvet. By September, the velvet dries up and bulls rub it off on shrubbery.
The intense breeding season, or rut, occurs in late September and early October. Bulls move constantly to seek a receptive cow, even during the day, when they are normally more reclusive. The bulls tear up trees with their antlers, leave scent and urine on the ground in scrapes, and fight to establish dominance.
A cow’s estrous period is roughly 28 days, but they are receptive to courtship for just 15-36 hours. If a cow does not mate in her first cycle, she experiences additional cycles. A cow that did not give birth in the spring may have a yearling with her, but she rejects the yearling once she is pregnant. One or two calves arrive around late May at 30 pounds, but they reach 400 pounds by November.
Moose may live into their teens, since Maine has few predators capable of killing an adult. Calves are at risk from black bears, Canada lynx or coyotes. Road kills, falls, disease and poaching also claim adults. Approximately 4,000 moose hunting tags are issued annually via a lottery. Harvests averaged 2,400 animals in recent years, and the hunt has a strong family tradition.
Moose are susceptible to a parasitic nematode called brain worm, hosted by white-tailed deer, generally without impact. Infected moose suffer severe neurological problems and abnormal behavior. They generally die. Symptoms include weakness, staggering, emaciation and paralysis.
A new documentary from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, “Guardian of the Giants,” available on YouTube, relates the threat to moose from winter ticks. As our climate warms, winter ticks are prospering in northern Maine. Thousands of ticks attach to moose, causing severe blood loss, hair loss and behavioral change. This results in lower first-year calf survival and reduced reproductive success for cows.
Maine’s herd, the largest in the lower 48 states, peaked at roughly 75,000. Biologists are experimenting with new methods to manage moose, lowering the population in hopes that winter ticks will cause less harm. Research, aerial surveys, radio collars and hunter surveys are critical tools in this challenge.
