October 27, 2023 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189177749
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189177749
As winter is closing in, I’ve been struggling to find an identifiable plant and the animals have been scarce. The bears are in their caves, the musk ox have retreated, birds have flown south and all that are left are the ravens and a few brave seagulls. As I wandered around my neighborhood, I came across a rack from this fall’s successful moose hunt. The moose, which looks to have been a tall and proud bull, has sacrificed its life unwillingly to feed a couple of families for the winter. Moose, Alces alces, is a member of the deer family, matter of fact it is the largest member (www.adfg.alaska.gov). They are found and hunted all over mainland Alaska, a well-known food source for the entire state. Moose are herbivores, eating primarily willows (they prefer young willows) and grasses. They are not only prey to us humans but also to bears and wolves. Just this spring I saw a bull who had survived a bear attack, he had scars and a hole in his flank. The poor guy was very skinny, so I figured it was the previous fall that the attack had taken place, and he spent a good part of winter healing and not eating. In the winter moose are seen in large groups, as many as twenty, but in the summer, they disperse in search of food. According to adfg.alaska.gov, moose move seasonally; from calving, rutting, and feeding locations. This proves my previous statement about them traveling in groups in the winter and dispersing in the summer.
Works Cited
Dfg.webmaster@alaska.gov. Moose Species Profile, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=moose.main. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023.