Moose
Alces alces

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Description- This horse-sized animal is the largest member of the deer family with long, dark brown hair, high, humped shoulders and long legs. A pendant of hair-covered skin sometimes reaching 2 feet hangs under the throat. Each April the male moose or bull grows a set of antlers reaching 120-150 cm which he loses in the winter after rutting season.

Distribution - The moose occurs in spruce forests, swamps, aspen and willow thickets; it is built to live in rough country and is well adapted to a cold climate. It can be found throughout most of B.C.

Biology - The rut lasts from early September to late October and 8 months later 1-2 calves are born. Moose are unpredictable and sometimes dangerous; although they generally avoid human contact, cows with calves and rutting bulls have been known to charge people, cars, horses and locomotives.

Tracks - The moose track is slightly larger and more pointed than that of the elk and similar in shape to a deer's but twice as large. The track may be blunted if the ground is rocky and hard, making it more difficult to distinguish from the elks. A typical print is of two pointed pear shapes with the tips closer than the wider bottom.

Straddle: 23 - 26 cm (9.2 - 10.4 in)
Stride: 60 - 85 cm (24 - 34 in)
Track: 16 cm (6.4 in) / 14 cm (5.6 in)