Moose Are Not To Be Messed With!

20 Dec 2007By Kimberly

Moose are a very “Canadian” animal, when I asked my husband to tell me the first winter animal off the top of his head, he said, “Moose”. So…Ok…Here goes…

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Subfamily: Capreolinae
Genus: Alces
Species: A. alces

Conservation Status:
I am ecstatic to announce to you that the Moose is a species of Least Concern. Great job!

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Don’t Mess with a Moose
By James Hyde

When you’re hiking and happen upon a moose, they can appear laid back and they can even be approached and fed depending on what season it is, but neither is ever a good idea. If it’s rutting season, approaching a bull moose is like poking a grizzly bear with a stick.

If you come upon a moose that’s close by, leave it alone, regardless of how docile it may appear. And then there’s the issue of sex.

Bull moose (males) are most dangerous during the rutting season, much of the fall and into the winter. Mating fatigues them as does walking in heavy snows. They’ve been known to bed down under people’s decks or lean against structures, exhausted. But that’s not an invitation to go P”pat the nice moose.”

The female of the species, cows, can get very ugly when approached, especially during the spring and summer seasons after they’ve calved or are teaching their youngsters the ways of the wild. You’d get a little ornery too if you’d just passed a 60-pound calf. And getting between a cow and a calf is like standing in mid street during the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Cows get very protective of their young and have been known to take on wolf packs to save them.

Unfortunately, many people don’t know the charge warning signs and decide to get as close as possible so a picture can be taken of them near a moose. Why not? Moose have been known to walk up to people almost nonchalantly as if they’re inviting interaction. Uh, don’t be too quick to accept the perceived chumminess.

Moose will walk slowly up to a person for one of two reasons: 1. To warn you to get off their turf; 2. Because they expect you to offer up some food. In either case, it’s not approaching to be patted. The smartest thing to do is run until you put something big and hard between you and that moose.

The warning signs that a charge is imminent (which is distinct from meandering in your direction) are:

1. The hair on the hump on its back is raised;

2. The ears are down and back; and

3. It starts licking its lips.

According to wildlife authorities, if you can see it licking its lips, you’re way too close anyway.

More often than not, if you run away from a moose, it’ll probably end its pursuit after a relatively short run. But if one does charge, do your best to run and get behind something solid. If there’s a tree nearby, move around it and away from the charging beast. You’re far more agile than it is, so you could escape it that way, by continuing to encircle the tree or climbing it if possible.

If a moose charges, unless you’re really close to it, it’s usually a warning–bluffs to see what you’ll do. If it doesn’t get the response it wants—your speedy departure–and does charge you, it kicks out with its forelegs when it gets close enough and can cause some serious injury doing that alone. More often, it will knock you down and has been known to use all four hooves on anyone on the ground.

The smartest thing to do under that scenario is to curl up in a fetal position, protect your head with your hands and arms and remain absolutely motionless. Do not move until the animal is well away from you or you may trigger a second attack.

If you are attacked, seek medical attention right away. Injuries do put people into shock, and if you get shocky, you’ll be in no shape to assess your medical condition on your own. If the moose breaks a rib or two, you could suffer a pneumothorax (collapsed lung), which is very serious. So get to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible for a full examination.

For the most part, moose are twig and bark eaters and get their name from the Algonquin Indians for precisely what they eat.

If you see one and have a camera, snap away, but from a safe distance. It’s definitely a “don’t touch/don’t feed” creature.

You can read more about hiking and moose in the ezine section of newenglandtimes.com

James H. Hyde is Co-Founder, Editor and Designer of http://NewEnglandTimes.Com. He has served as Managing Editor of three magazines, two at the same time; is a winner of the prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award for “Best In-Depth Analysis Article of the Year”; has served as Editor of “The DeskTop,” a newsletter about the early days of desktop publishing; is co-author of “The Plain English Guide to Desktop Publishing”; has written two syndicated newspaper columns; has written for “The New York Times”; and designed and wrote http://SuperModel.Com during the mid-to late 1990s. SuperModel.Com was among the top 100 most visited sites on the Web in both 1996 and 1997. Jim’s designs were featured in five Web design books and he won over 30 design and content awards. He also wrote and designed the official Web site of the Southern Rock Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, as well as fan club sites for Brooke Shields, John Mellencamp, Michael Bolton and others.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?Dont-Mess-with-a-Moose&id=559901

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I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards