Here we are —- mid January already —- and no doubt many of us are looking forward to Springtime and a little bit warmer weather.
I was thinking about the poor ol’ Moose that live here in Northern Ontario. Winter must be a pretty tough time for them. Cold, less to eat, less mobile because of the snow, and maybe poor ice conditions. And when the ice is good, it’s tougher for them to find something to drink.
Moose may not be able to see all that great, but they sure have the ability to smell things. I remember one time while moose hunting with my Dad and he said, “I wish I had a nose like a moose.” I had a hard time stopping myself from laughing, as all I could do was picture my Dad with a rather very large and long nose! Of course he meant he wished he could “smell” like a moose…which makes me laugh too because moose don’t smell very nice. (unless you are another moose)
Here are some interesting “tid-bits” about “Alces alces”, our friend the Moose, from the good folks at Wildlife in Ontario.
Moose can dive more than 5 m to get food at the bottom of a lake.
The moose is the largest living deer in the world.
Moose can be infested with up to 200,000 ticks during the winter-major cause of death in the winter due to blood loss.
Moose are athletes in their own right-they have been known to run as fast as 55 km/h, swim for several hours, dive deep, and can stay submerged for up to 1 minute.
You can read a lot more about this giant-of-the-woods by clicking on MOOSE to go to the Wildlife in Ontario site.
Let’s hope these large friends of the forest survive the winter as best they can, and that we see more of them on our ATV rides.
NEVER, chase a moose with your ATV or snowmobile!
Enjoy!