Monday, July 07, 2008

Moose

The Moose is the tallest mammal in North America and the largest member of the Deer Family. A male Moose can weigh up to 1600 pounds! More detailed information about Moose can be found at Nature Works. On Saturday we came upon this one as it was feeding along the roadside. Moose vehicle collisions are extreme hazards along our highways and caution must always be exercised when encountering these large mammals. I used a large zoom lens which allowed for a closer image.

I think this was a young bull calf and the budding antlers that it displayed are 'button antlers'.

8 comments:

Mary said...

How interesting! He climbed right down off your brief header shot and into the main post :-) Really amazing photos! Around here we worry about deer collisions....I can't imagine worrying about hitting a moose! How fortunate that you even were able to get photos at all....and such good ones!

Becky said...

Great shots. I have always wanted to see a moose up close, but not on the front of my vehicle! The last time we went to New England we were always looking out for them, but no luck.

Anonymous said...

Now there's an animal I've never seen in the wild.

Rambling Woods said...

Here too there are many deer collisions..Thank you for the information and photos...

Kay said...

I remember one time when one of our teachers returned from vacation late because she said they'd crashed into a moose late at night and both the moose and their car died.

me ann my camera said...

mary;
I find moose fascinating but not very attractive to maintain a header photo for long, I just put him there as a place holder until I did the post. I have a few items backed up and am trying to get them all posted in some fashion or other.

becky:
Maybe you're lucky you didn't encounter any for they can be hazardous for sure.

brian:
Sitting in my car, at a distance, in front of it, is a good place to view one from.

michelle:
We have a lot of deer here too and some portions of our highways now have deer fencing to keep deer and moose off of the highway.

kay:
The night is a very dangerous time to encounter moose for you often don't see them until they are right in front of you.

Thank you all for your comments.

Unknown said...

Would not want to run into him in the dark!

Anonymous said...

Great photos! I've only seen a few animals out in the open like that. I can only imagine what it must have been like to spot this and take a few photos. Nice work!