Moose noises?

[Dugan]

Late the other night (10 pm or so) I heard some odd animal noises for about an hour. It sounded sort of like the noise I've heard elk make on documentaries. There were two, traveling roughly south. I'd hear one, then the other further away. This was repeated at about 5 minute intervals, each time coming closer, eventually passing then moving into the distance. They passed nearby during one of the intervals. The sound had me thinking deer or moose, but the noise of them passing sounded more like moose than deer. I couldn't see what these creatures were due to the dark and trees. The voice of the one in the rear was not as deep or loud as the one in the front which made me wonder if it was a mother and baby. Would a moose or deer make an elk-like call? Do moose or deer call to each other like this?

The second part of this is that I also heard a pack of coyotes doing their yipping thing around the same time. By the sounds, it seemed like they were traveling the same route as the creatures. They would also call periodically, at roughly 15 minutes intervals. They passed closely enough that I was able to count 4 individuals (there may have been more, I only counted as many as I could see at one time, it was too dark to distinguish between individuals). They passed about 10 minutes after the creatures. Would coyotes trail moose? If they were hunting the creatures, wouldn't they have been moving faster and following more closely?

The pooch in my avatar hit a few good scent trails in the morning. The ground was mostly pine needles and leaves. I couldn't tell what he was following, nor did I find any tracks or scat, except for some coyote hairs where they'd passed through brush.

Gotta get some night vision equipment!

 

[sardog1]

Both moose cows and deer does will call to their young when separated; the young have their own vocalizations as well. By your reference to "elk-like" I'm inferring a higher pitch, which suggests a doe and fawn. I once pulled a fawn out of a swamp after I was drawn by its calls and the doe's. I did this only because my wife was along; otherwise I would have left the fawn to the protein cycle. (New poll topic?)

Coyotes would be very interested in deer fawns. I doubt that they'd have too much to do with a moose calf, unless they had a lot of time on their hands, not much sense, and an "extreme sport" attitude. Moose cows are capable of holding off brown/grizzly bears, albeit not always successfully. A whitetail doe is not nearly as much of a challenge.

Your furry friend was probably harkening back to his flock-tending roots, methinks.

 

[el-bagr]

An interesting encounter. I haven't heard whitetail vocalize (other than huffing), but moose make a variety of calls -- just ask a moose hunter! I've also heard bear vocalize -- one evening a cub wandered around a lakeshore for several hours where we were staying, calling like a lost child.

 

[sardog1]

The doe was running herself ragged by the side of the swamp, calling and calling to no avail. The fawn was going nowhere without a lift.

 

[Dugan]

It was a higher pitch than elk noises I've heard on tv, but I'd only heard deer make a snorting sound. I agree it's not likely that coyotes would go after a moose calf and mother.

The dog was definitely in guardian mode while we heard the coyotes. I was practically sitting on him with one hand around his muzzle to keep him quiet. Even still he was grrring while the coyotes were close. I've been thinking I should start doing some tracking with him so I can get a better read on his body language when he does hit a scent.

It would've been tough to walk by that fawn stuck in a swamp.