Moose behavior question

[NHGal]

While on a walk on a forest road in Easton today, I saw the TINIEST moose I have ever seen, and can only surmise that it was a newborn -- it didn't look anywhere near the size of a yearling -- MUCH smaller even than the half-yearling calves one sees with their moms during the fall.

So first question: do moose give birth this early? I had always thought they birthed more in May or June?

And second question: Mama didn't seem to be anywhere around, though perhaps she was just being coy. Would a mother moose leave her calf unattended while she went and ate?

Thanks for any info.

 

[NewHampshire]

Right about now is when most cervids (Moose, deer ) get ready to birth. It seems a wee bit early, though not much. Mother nature has planned the birth cycle of these animals so that the young drop right at prime time of plant growth. Im not too up on moose as I am deer, but a mother deer will leave her young in one spot while she goes off to feed. Young deer are almost scentless and have the instinct to lie absolutely still. This is so the mother can sustain herself nutritionally, thus feeding her young. If this youngster moose was up and moving then I cant really be sure if they act the same as deer young. So I would say it is quite possible it was a newborn.
Brian

 

[forestgnome]

NHGal,
Very cool! You may have witnessed the first day of life for that future giant. Barring any freak accident, mama was very near-by.

Spring has sprung!

Kevin makes a good point. We should all be careful out there not to scare calves or fawns away from mama.

 

[sierra]

I think your very lucky to have seen a baby moose, but that brings up a great point about viewing wildlife. I would give any creature thats that young a wide bearth, not only will you make its momma mad (dangerous for you) you stand the chance of scaring off its mother and rendering it homeless, verturly a death sentence for such a young creature.

 

[NHGal]

Not to worry -- I didn't hang around or attempt to approach it. I know better than that. I stopped for about five or ten seconds or so (more to pick my jaw up from off the ground than anything else!), then stayed on the road. It was off in the woods, probably 50-75' from me. It was standing, and took several steps parallel to the road. It looked very interested in me, which might just be the look of something that has (relatively speaking) ENORMOUS ears. I now think that moose are born with full-sized ears. They were just huge on its head. I did continue down the road for another half mile or so, then turned around and walked back (no loop possibilities), and just tried to be fairly vigilant. (And I surely would not have continued along the road had it been a bear cub!).

 

[forestgnome]

one-year-old bull

I saw a cow and her single calf this morning at a popular moose wallow on the Kancamagus Highway. This calf was a one-year-old bull, with his little stubs on his head which will sprout antlers. They are both well into their molting; spring has sprung!

Call me crazy, but I saw this same cow and calf last May.

 

[MarkJ]

moose

nice one forestnome,thanxs for showin' me the moose hang out,is it white brook?............fyi,Forest has a sweet camera,I seen it myself!!!!!!!MJ

 

[McRat]

Forestnome, Wondering where you took that great picture?

I'm taking a friend up Mt. Jackson tomorrow for his first 4Ker. He has never seen a live moose. I've only seen them in Maine. Any dependable WMNF location for viewing? I'd appreciate any recommendation for places/best times.

Ideally a 1-3mi. RT moderate walk, as I'm not sure how the much he'll have left in legs.

(Been a lucky week for animal sightings. Took the first sail of the season yesterday. There was so little boat activity that there were white-sided dolphins cavorting in Salem harbor.)

 

[Waumbek]

I just saw three moose tonight on the side of 302 in Orange Heights (VT). Too dark for pictures but fortunately still light enough to see these three in time to slow down. They're definitely on the move now.

 

[sardog1]

Hanging around a calf with the mother nearby is one of the highest risk activities you can engage in. And I'm not talking about the calf's welfare. Female moose are capable of holding off brown/grizzly bears when it comes to protecting their calves. An inadvertent encounter with a cow and calf in a parking lot in Anchorage cost a man his life a few years back. The video is not pleasant to watch.

 

[forestgnome]

McRat,

A dolphin in Salem Harbor? Very nice!!!

I hope you see this before you hit the road. If you can drive along the Kancamagus, on the eastern half, around sunset or sunrise, you'll have a great chance. These two moose were in a very popular wallow that is right along the road. I spotted them while driving. The wallow (mud puddle) is a few hundred feet west of the Oliverian Brook trailhead. I took this shot from about ten feet away from the road!

As you head up Crawford Notch, same thing. Drive really slow and scan the woods. They blend well with the woods right now, but the whole notch has many moose travelling about right now.

Same definately goes for Rt 16 through Pinkham Notch. There is a very popular wallow just north of Dana Place, in Jackson.

Good luck, and enjoy Mt Jackson. The view to the Presidentials can't be beat.

 

[pbernard]

I will agree, the eastern half of Kancamangus (112) is a good bet. Saw one yesterday (18 April) browsing at the edge of the pavement around 8:30 AM.
Drive slowly and good luck.

 

[stopher]

New England moose usually bear their young in late May to Early June so this one was definitely an early moose. It's surprising you didn't see its mother. Unlike deer, who leave a fawn in dense cover while mother feeds (a deer's best defense is to flee -- a hard thing to do when you have a newborn trailing you), a mother moose is always with its young. A moose's best defense is to stand its ground. There are few predators, other than humans, who will risk injury to attack a healthy moose. As has already been said, mother moose are very protective of their young. Much more so than bears. Kilham, Morse and other wildlife researchers who are familiar with bears will tell you that the sow-with-cub(s) danger is highly over rated. At the first sign of danger, cubs will climb a tree and mom will stay out of sight and watch. If you don't go after the cubs, she won't go after you. But as for mother moose, give her a wide berth!

 

[NHGal]

New England moose usually bear their young in late May to Early June so this one was definitely an early moose. It's surprising you didn't see its mother. Unlike deer, who leave a fawn in dense cover while mother feeds (a deer's best defense is to flee -- a hard thing to do when you have a newborn trailing you), a mother moose is always with its young.

Thanks, stopher. That's what I was wondering. I surely didn't go looking for the mother, so I can't say with any certainty that she wasn't there, but she certainly wasn't right beside her calf unless she was prone. When I got home, my husband said he didn't think the cow would leave her calf (he also didn't think a deer would leave its fawn, though...), so I sort of wondered whether I should call the Forest Service to see whether there had been any roadkill cows in that area, though this was far enough from the main road that I couldn't really imagine the calf making it there solo.

As for sows and cubs, despite what people have said on this thread, and despite that it perhaps defies logic, I think I'd still choose the moose over the sow. I'm a fairly fast tree climber, which isn't much help with a bear.

 

[stopher]

NHG, if you get a chance to read Seasons of the Moose by Jennie Promack, she describes meeting and then regularly visiting an orphan moose calf for a period of about a year. That youngster was quite resourceful and made it to adulthood. Geist, in Moose: Behavior, Ecology, Conservation, describes the calf-to-mother bonding process. A moose calf is much like a chicken or duck and will bond to what- or whoever is present at the right time. He goes on to say that moose are readily domesticated if captured at a young age. If that moose calf you saw was an orphan, you're lucky it didn't follow you home!

 

[Gris]

This is kinda off topic, but it came flooding back reading this thread. Once in June in the remotest mountain wilds of West Virginia my daughter and I happened upon a truly sublime event - a deer being born in a tangle of logs under a waterfall. I have to say this was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed on a hike. We backed off, but still the mother promptly loped off about fifty yards or so, where she hid in some laurel and intermittently made bleating noises. We quietly backed off further. Then the fawn, maybe in response to mom's calls, wobbled out from under the logs and stilt-walked it's first steps in the direction of momma. My daughter hid behind a tree and took pictures of the whole thing. I had forgotten all about this. (I think those pics are on the hard drive of a defunct computer in my garage actually...) Anyway, perhaps a mother will intentionally leave her young to draw potential predators away? Just a theory.

 

[forestgnome]

Gris, that is an excellent story! Those are the kinds of experiences that make me an addict! There is always more to see and experience.

Stopher, thanks for great info. I'll look for that book about moose behavior.