moose facts

Moose Facts

Have you ever seen a moose? Do you know that moose is the world's largest deer? This article presents interesting moose facts. Read on....

Moose is the largest existing animal belonging to the deer family. Male moose has characteristic huge flattened palm-shaped antlers. Antlers are different from horns. While growing, they are covered with velvet like skin which provides essential nutrients to the soft and tender antlers. Once the antlers (bones) become hard, the velvet is shed. Later in winter, antlers are also shed and new antlers grow again! Horns are never shed. Moose facts inform us that in winter, older males shed their antlers before the younger ones. Some more interesting facts are presented below. Interesting Facts about Moose
  • Moose is a ruminant animal like cattle, sheep, goats and deer; whose stomach is divided into four compartments. Moose is a cud chewing hoofed mammal. It can regurgitate food, re-chew it and then swallow it again. You may refer to the article facts about mammals for more information on mammals.
  • European elk (Alces alces), Eastern Canadian (Taiga) moose, Western Canadian (Manitoba) moose, Siberian moose, Yukon moose, Wyoming moose are some of the popular species of moose.
  • In Europe, moose is commonly recognized as 'elk' while in North America, it is referred to as 'moose'.
  • Moose are often found in mountain meadows and forests and are abundantly populated in North America, Europe and Russia.
  • Moose are herbivores. Moose diet consists of willow, birch, aspen twigs, plants, bushes, saplings, horsetail, sedges, roots, pond weeds and grasses. They eat bark of some woody plants along with leaves, twigs and buds. They eat lichens, aquatic plants and even some taller non-woody land plants. They eat 40 to 60 pounds of plants every day. They can feed under water.
  • Male moose is referred to as 'bull' and female as 'cow'. Moose baby is called 'calf'. Moose give birth to one or two babies at a time. Babies weigh about 14 kilograms (30 pounds) at birth.
  • A group of moose is referred to as 'herd' or 'gang'. 'Bark' or 'bugle' is the word used to express the sound made by a moose.
  • Height of a fully grown moose can be about 6.5-7 feet at the shoulder. A grown up moose may weigh around 1600-1800 pounds!
  • In ancient times, moose meat provided nourishment during long winters; while moose skin provided shelter and clothing. Moose bones and antlers were used to make tools.
  • Moose are quite faster than they look! They can run with a speed of 35-40 miles per hour. When they swim, their speed can be 10-15 miles per hour. They run almost like a horse.
  • Moose use sharp hooves and antlers for defense. They can kick out in all directions! Usually they use front feet to hold off a predator.
  • Moose have fairly long legs which help them walk through deep snow and cross rough terrains.
  • Female moose lives longer than male moose. A healthy female lives up to 20 years while a male lives up to 15 years of age, if they succeed in avoiding predators. Average life of a moose is only 8-12 years in the wild.
  • Moose have oddly shaped large upper lip. Their face looks like a bucket! Therefore they have earned the nickname 'old bucket nose'. The beard like flap under their chin (about one foot long piece of skin, covered with fur that hangs from their throats) is known as dewlap or bell.
  • The antlers of a grown up male are shaped like scoops. These majestic antlers can measure 60" or more from tip to tip and can weigh more than 50 pounds.
  • Here are some moose facts for kids. Moose have excellent hearing capacity but they don't have upper teeth! Their eyesight is also poor. Winter tick infestation is responsible for about 50% decline in moose population. A fully grown adult moose has only 3 inches long tail!
  • Moose like to live alone. They are active throughout the day but most active at the time of dusk and dawn.
  • Here are some Canadian moose facts. Moose are found in Canadian forests in Newfoundland, Labrador and in Alaska. Its rack of antlers span between 120 and 150 centimeters and may weigh about 20-30 kg. The number of moose present in Canada is between half million to one million.
Moose is one of the northern hemisphere's largest mammals on land, currently present on this earth. Moose prefer marshes and river banks for dwelling as they get enough food and water there. I always like to read interesting facts about animals. I hope you found the information on moose interesting.

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