Showing posts with label moose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moose. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Friday, July 3, 2009
Moose
The moose is the largest member of the deer family weighing in at around 1800 pounds. They are the second largest land mammal in Yellowstone, only the bison are larger. Even though they are large they can still run as fast as a horse, reaching speeds of 30 to 35 mph and swim around 10 mph.
Their name "moose" is an adaptation of what the Algonquin Indians called them, mooswa, which roughly meant twig eater. This was a pretty accurate description of the moose. They are herbivores who eat a variety of different plant material, including the leaves and bark from low hanging twigs. In northern Europe and Asia where moose are found they are called elk.
Usually when we visit Yellowstone in the spring we do not see moose so when we spotted this female moose, cow, grazing in the willow plants we were pretty excited. Moose are very fond of willow so every time that we see a field of willow we make sure and check it out to see if their are any moose around. When we visit Yellowstone in the fall we usually spend most of our time down in the Grand Tetons where it is usually very easy to find and photograph moose at that time of the year.
Their name "moose" is an adaptation of what the Algonquin Indians called them, mooswa, which roughly meant twig eater. This was a pretty accurate description of the moose. They are herbivores who eat a variety of different plant material, including the leaves and bark from low hanging twigs. In northern Europe and Asia where moose are found they are called elk. 
Usually when we visit Yellowstone in the spring we do not see moose so when we spotted this female moose, cow, grazing in the willow plants we were pretty excited. Moose are very fond of willow so every time that we see a field of willow we make sure and check it out to see if their are any moose around. When we visit Yellowstone in the fall we usually spend most of our time down in the Grand Tetons where it is usually very easy to find and photograph moose at that time of the year.
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