A Moose Rant

So, a few weeks ago while reading Bill Bryson’s comical book A Walk In the Woods, I came across a few lines in the book which seemed somewhat out of place from what I’ve learned and experienced out in the wilderness in Alaska. Let me sum it up for you. If you can't tell by the title of this entry, it has something to do with moose.

            Bryson first says that “hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature” and then proceeds to call this accusation by the hunters “nonsense”. I get the ferocious part as being nonsense because when I think of ferocious things I think of crocodiles or things with fur and warts that gnash their teeth and live under the bed. But, on the other hand, I do understand where the hunters are coming from. For instance, early in September 2010, a toddler was trampled while playing on a beach with her brother in Denver Colorado. I don’t know if you can actually call this encounter with a moose as being “ferocious”, but you can for sure call it terrifying.

            Bryson makes another inference that I find interesting when talking about moose and highways.  Bryson says “if you are driving down a highway and a moose steps from the woods ahead of you, he will stare at you for a long minute...then abruptly try and run away from you, legs flailing in eight directions at once”. Here’s the thing about moose and any other animal, domesticated or wild, for that matter. Their actions are totally unpredictable.  For example in July of this year, a man died after hitting a moose on the highway with his Jetta. This moose didn't run away. In fact, you could say that the moose actually ran into the man's vehicle. Another accident that I am familiar with happened in 2005 when I was in Alaska. A woman was driving down the highway when a moose ran out of the forest in front of her. Not able to stop in time, the women hit the moose totaling her car. Fortunately for the moose, he walked away with a minor scratch on his hip.

            After telling you all these horror stories about the moose and giving them somewhat of a bad rap, I feel as though I should also tell you how amazing of an animal a moose really is. Here are 10 Interesting facts that I have compiled for you about moose.

1.     Moose are a deer.

2.     Moose live in Europe, North America, and Asia

3.     Unlike most species, Moose gangs or herds are lead by a dominant female, NOT male.

4.     Moose are vegan meaning they only eat plants

5.     Moose hair is hollow helping them to float

6.     A moose can swim up to 6 mph

7.     An adult male moose eats about 9.770 calories a day to maintain a healthy body weight

8.     Moose only have teeth on the bottom of their mouths

9.     A moose calf can weigh anywhere from 25 lbs to 35 lbs when they are born

10.   A moose call is called a bark or bugle

(For more facts visit http://users.rcn.com/jpebble/moose/funfacts.html or http://users.rcn.com/jpebble/moose/funfacts.html)

To finish, I would like to say that moose are some of the most incredible animals that I have ever come encounter with in the wilderness. To say that I didn't enjoy seeing one when I was in Alaska would be lying. But I would also be lying if I said I wasn't a little hesitant to move when I came across a mom and her calf on a trail when I was hiking in Alaska. It was awesome, but I would have much rather been viewing this moose from the comforts of my conversion van.