Tag Archives: moose

All About Moose

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Moose in our back yard

I clipped the leashes on the dogs and sleepily took them out for do their business at 7 a.m.  Shawnee instantly fixated on the forest below, intently staring.  Soon, I realized that yes indeed, the moose had returned and were bedded below our house near our septic field.

Since moose have been such a common sight in Nederland, I thought I’d dedicate today’s piece on moose trivia here in Colorado.  Most of this moose information comes from National Geographic’s site on moose.

  • Moose are not native to Colorado.  They were reintroduced in 1978, when 24 male and female moose were transplanted from nearby Wyoming and Utah.
  • Moose are the largest member of the deer family, weighing more than 1200 pounds, and standing over six feet tall.
  • That flap of skin that hangs underneath their neck is known as a bell.
  • Moose are equally at home in the water or on land.  They are excellent swimmers, with the ability to swim up to 6 miles per hour, over several miles, as well as go under water for up to 30 seconds.
  • Despite their big, bulky size, they can run up to 35 miles per hour.
  • Moose mate in the fall, and the female produces one to two calves the following spring, weighing around 30 pounds.
  • Their ears can rotate giving them stereophonic hearing.
  • Moose have few predators, and are mainly threatened when they are young by wolves or grizzly bears.  They can live up to 20 years in the wild.
  • Bull moose grow antlers each spring and shed them in the winter.  Moose antlers can weigh up to 40 pounds.
  • The fur of a moose is hollow, providing them insulation from the cold.
  • A moose’s front legs are taller than its back legs, allowing it to jump over obstacles.
  • Moose are herbivores, eating shrubby and woody plants.  Here in Colorado, they love browsing willow and young aspen, eating up to 73 pounds of food a day in summertime.

Moose have become much more common in the Front Range foothills the last ten years.  I can’t believe how frequently we see them in and around Nederland now.  Despite that, when I can sip coffee on my back deck and watch two moose browse the shrubs just a few feet from me, I find the experience magical.  As you spend time in the outdoors, please be respectful of these amazing animals, enjoy watching them in the natural habitat, but know they are wild and dangerous.

 

Northern Exposure?

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Female cow moose standing in our driveway

When I was younger,  I was fascinated with a television series titled Northern Exposure from the early 1990s.  For all of you who never watched it, or it predates your existence, it was a show about a New York City doctor who moves to a quirky small town in Alaska.  The series detailed the challenges faced by this big city guy, trying to fit into this remote town in the wilderness with its crazy characters.  While there was many an interesting episode dealing with encounters with wildlife — no animal was more synonymous with this show than the moose.  The opening intro showed a moose sauntering down the main street of the town, poking its large bulbous head hither and yon.

Living in the large city of San Francisco at the time, I could scarcely imagine living in a place where a huge wild animal would just saunter through town like that.  It seemed preposterous.  Well, today, we had our own Northern Exposure (or should I say Rocky Mountain Exposure) moment at our home here in Nederland.  My husband and I share a Sunday tradition of sleeping in followed by a big breakfast, chatting and reading the Sunday paper.  We were eating waffles at the table, when Bryon got up to get something.  Glancing out the large picture window, he stopped suddenly and exclaimed, “Oh my God!”  Being a person who naturally tilts towards disaster, I thought something terrible must have happened, and my mind immediately went to — it must be a car accident on the road!  I got up and looked out, and instead of a mangled car, the image of two large moose standing in our driveway greeted me.IMG_3245 (2)

We’ve known for awhile that we have a resident cow moose in the neighborhood.  We’d come across her a couple of times while walking the dog.  I’d heard from our neighbors recently that they’d seen her with a yearling calf.  Yet, seeing her up close, a mere five feet away from our front porch took my breath away.  I grabbed my iPhone and started snapping pictures.  Not wanting to ruin the moment and scare her, Bryon grabbed our two dogs and shuttled them to the back bedroom.  I continued watching, rapt with attention, fascinated to have my own personal wildlife moment unfolding right in front of me.

The cow moose started licking Bryon’s car, and then ambled even closer, standing on the front step of our front porch.  Our front door has a glass window on the upper half, and we just stood there, taking it all in.  Seeing her that close allowed me to see the fine details of her coat — how coarse and thick the fur was, the bald patches on her sides.  Standing next to my car, her immense height and long, long legs that looked stick-like really stood out.  I could see that her legs had lighter fur than her body, which was a deep, chocolate brown.  And her ears appeared to be as large as a mule.  At one point, she turned her head and stared directly at me — our eyes locked for a moment.  I continued to snap frantically with my iPhone, wanting to capture this magical moment with as many photos as possible.

I realized what a rare treat we were witnessing.  When is it possible to stand three feet from a wild moose safely and capture pictures of her grazing Aspen trees, licking the sides of my old Subaru, sauntering through our driveway?  We stood enraptured for at least 15 minutes, watching her and her calf, scarcely believing this was happening on an ordinary Sunday morning in March, right where we lived.  Finally, they lumbered down the hill behind our house at a slow gallop, disappearing into the woods.IMG_3282

I of course, had to immediately share our moment with the rest of the world, via Facebook.  Immediately the comments started flooding in from friend across the country, most of whom live in cities and suburbs.  My friend, Deb, simply stated, “Wow”.  I have an old friend, Charlie, who dreams of living in a log cabin the woods.  His comments captures it all  – “How neat, how I envy you and Bryon.”

I know this moment is burnt in my brain forever.  Something about wilderness has always brought a special joy to my life, and nothing symbolizes wilderness like a majestic moose.  It’s moments like these when I realize how incredibly lucky we are to live in this special place, to share our habitat with those of the wildlife around us.  This is the reason I pursued our dream of living in the Rocky Mountains, and what makes it all worth it.

Moose on the Loose

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Cow_MooseSomething I most appreciate about living in the mountains is the chance to experience nature and view wildlife in its own habitat.  The first weekend we moved into our home in Nederland, I caught a glimpse of something on our front porch.  When I peered out the window, at first glance I thought I saw a house cat, but in fact, it was a bobcat.  Within moments it was gone, but it still seemed really cool to be living in a place where wild cats lived.

During the last two years, we have begun seeing moose in our neighborhood on a fairly regular basis.  Last year, our border collie had a run in with a moose when we were out walking, and I’ve seen cow moose on several occasions off in the Aspen groves that line the road we live on.  It wasn’t that long ago that you hardly ever saw a moose on this side of the Continental Divide.  A mere twenty years ago, it was rare to see a moose at all in the entire state of Colorado, as moose were only reintroduced into Colorado in 1978 when 24 male and female moose were transplanted from Wyoming and Utah into North Park.  Over the next several years, more moose were moved and released into western Colorado.  Still, over the next thirty years, the population was relatively low and the moose were mainly found in river valleys, like the upper Colorado River near Grand Lake.  But over the last several years, the moose have made their way across the Divide into the foothills of the Front Range.

Sightings have become more and more plentiful, warranting installation of Moose Crossing signs along the Peak to Peak highway and up and down Boulder Canyon.  I’ve had a few heart-stopping moments myself when I was commuting to Estes Park from Nederland, spying moose standing along the shoulder while driving 55 miles per hour down the road in the early morning hours.  One morning, a bull moose was actually standing on the center stripe of the road — talk about an obstacle in the road!  Bull Moose can weigh over 1000 pounds, so when it come to cars and moose, it can cause serious damage to a vehicle and the passengers if you hit one.

The moose seem to be on the loose and more active than ever this spring.  I don’t know if the rainy weather has increased activity, but there have been more sightings this spring than I can remember in past years.  Moose tend to hang out near watery areas like lakes and streams — they are actually very good swimmers.  One of their favorite foods is willow, a shrub that grows in riparian areas that tend to be moist.  CDOT has been posting flashing warning signs alerting motorists that moose have been seen in the area, and to drive with caution.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to hear from our neighbor, Dave, about his encounter with a cow moose the other day.  A favorite hiking trail for residents is a Forest Service Trail that leads from our road down to North Boulder Creek.  It’s a couple of miles round trip, and makes a beautiful evening walk, with views of the mountains,  wildflowers lining the trail, and culminates at a beautiful babbling creek.  Dave took his two golden retrievers down to the creek the other day, only to be charged by a large cow moose.  Dave reported a similar experience I had, where his one dog got too close to the moose, only to have the moose pick up her front hoof as if to kick his dog.  Then the moose turned on Dave and started to charge him.  Bryon and I have discussed what we would do if this should occur to us.  The consensus advice seems to be to run into a tightly wooded area with lots of trees.  Moose, being large creatures, are not very graceful and have difficulty navigating through densely wooded forest.  Apparently, that tactic does work, because that’s what Dave did, and the moose turned around and left.

Nevertheless, hearing this story is sobering and a good reminder that we are living in a very active wildlife habitat.  I think spring is particularly fraught with danger as many of our larger hoofed mammals like moose and elk are calving and mothers tend to be ornery and protective of their young.  If you want to live in the mountains, you have to learn to get along with the neighbors, which includes the local wildlife.  Or as a neighborhood kid said so aptly, “Remember, the moose is bigger than you!”