Their wide hooves act like snowshoes to help them walk in the snow or in muddy, marshy ground after the white stuff melts. When the winter ice melts, moose spend much of their time swimming in lakes and rivers to keep their body temperature down on hot days, sometimes swimming without stopping for 10 or more miles. An adult moose can run up to 35 miles an hour for short distances and 20 miles an hour for longer runs.
Year-round, moose snack mostly on leaves, stems, twigs, and the bark of small shrubs—and they eat plenty of all of these things. A full-grown moose can gobble up to 70 pounds of food a day.
Male moose, called bulls, begin growing their antlers in the early spring. They use the pointy ends of their shovel-shaped headgear to fight with other males when competing for mates. Bull moose use their antlers in threat displays when they are fighting over females. Sometimes they will get into a pushing fight with their antlers. These fights rarely get too serious because the antlers could catch together and both moose could die.
When mating season is over, the moose's antlers will fall off. Mice and other rodents will gnaw on the antlers because they are a good source of calcium. The female gives birth during the spring or summer. She usually has one baby. Moose calves can stand up within a day, and they can swim within a couple of weeks. Calves are weaned after about six months and will stay with their mother until the next young are born.
Mothers are very protective of their calves and will charge people if they get too close. Bull moose may also charge people and even cars during mating season. Moose can run as fast as 35 mph, so it's a good idea to stay out of their way! Calves are born in the spring, gain about one to two pounds a day, and later end up gaining five pounds a day!! Yes, moose are herbivores! They must eat all day to fill up.
They eat any kind of vegetation and require almost 10, calories each day. Like cows, moose have four-chambered stomachs. A moose can dive 20 feet under water and stay under water for up to 30 seconds! They can also swim fairly fast considering their size: up to six miles an hour. Female moose, or cows, generally have 1 to 2 calves in May. On average, the calves weigh about 30 pounds at birth and grow very quickly. Still, baby moose don't have the ability to run or protect themselves very well, so the mother stays with her offspring for a year and a half, fighting off wolves and bears that try to pick off the young calves.
Moose are naturally gifted swimmers. It's common to see one hop right into a lake and swim across at up to 6 mph. The animals have an innate ability to know how to swim, so even calves can swim. Moose can be categorized into four different species in North America: the eastern moose A. Moose can be distinguished by different sizes and antler shapes. The largest moose is the Alaskan moose pictured above that can stand at 7 feet tall with an antler span of 6 feet.
Something is happening to all the moose in Minnesota. The state once had a flourishing moose population in the north that was hunted and doing quite well: In the mids, there were of the animals in the northwest, but that number dropped to less than in just two decades.
This prompted the state to do some research to prevent further drops in population.
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