Moose, Elk & Deer Stories
WALL STREET GIFTS - Stories of Moose, Elk and Deer
MOOSE - The word moose is thought to have come from the Algonquian word “mus” or “moos” and means eater of twigs. However, long before moose came to North America, they lived in Eurasia. It is believed that they came over the narrow land bridge which connected Asia with North America and was about 56 miles long. It is possible that moose preceded the arrival of man to this area of the world.
The North American moose is a member of the deer family. Most adult male moose have distinctive broad, open-hand shaped antlers; whereas, deer have twig-like antlers. Female moose select mates based on antler size. Bull moose use dominant displays of antlers to discourage competition and will spar or fight rivals. The size and growth rate of antlers is determined by diet and age; symmetry reflects health.
The moose is the second largest mammal in USA behind the American buffalo/bison.
The antlers of mature Alaskan adult bull moose (5 to 12 years old) have a normal maximum spread of 79 in.(Widest recorded is 83”) Once a moose reaches the age of 13, it's antlers decline in size and symmetry.
After the mating season, males drop their antlers to conserve energy for the winter. A new set of antlers will then re-grow in the spring. Antlers take three to five months to fully develop, making them one of the fastest growing animal organs.
A mature male moose is called a bull, a mature female a cow, and an immature moose of either sex a calf. European cave paintings reveal that moose have been hunted since the Stone Age. The earliest known species is the French moose which lived about million years ago.
Moose typically inhabit forests in temperate and sub-arctic climates. The most common predators of a moose are: #1 gray wolf, #2 bears, #3 humans. Moose do not form herds and are solitary animals, aside from calves who remain with their mother until the calf is about 18 months.
Since the 1990s, the moose population has declined. A major reason for the decline is the spread of White Tail Deer. The deer carry parasites which infect and kill moose.
How many moose inhabit our continent? Estimated population in 2024:
Canada – 830.000
Alaska – 175,000
Maine - 60,000
New Hampshire - 3,300
You can see how the weather effects where the moose live: Idaho - 10,000, Washington - 5,000, Nevada -- 40.
In the Midwest: Minnesota – 4,700, Utah - 2,500
If a bull moose is castrated, he will quickly shed his antlers and immediately begin to grow a new set of misshapen and deformed antlers that he will wear the rest of his life without ever shedding again. Moose have a keen sense of smell, which they employ to detect water sources, to find food under snow, and to detect mates or predators. The moose hoof splays under load, increasing surface area, which limits sinking of the moose foot into soft ground or snow, and which increases efficiency when swimming.
Their fur consists of two layers; top layer of long guard hairs and a soft wooly undercoat. The guard hairs are hollow and filled with air for better insulation, which also helps them stay afloat when swimming.
On average, an adult moose stands 5-7 ft high at the shoulder, which is more than a foot higher than the next largest deer. Males normally weigh about 900-1,500 lb and females typically weigh 400-1,000 lb. An 800 lb moose eats about 71 lb of food each day. To eat leaves off tall trees, a moose may stand erect and walk upright on its hind legs, allowing it to reach branches up to 14 ft or so above ground. Moose eat many aquatic plants and are excellent swimmers. Moose are the only deer that are capable of feeding underwater. Moose wade into water to cool down on summer days and to rid itself of black flies. Moose cannot digest hay.
Rutting and mating occurs in September and October. During the rut, mature bulls will cease feeding completely for a period of about two weeks. The males will seek several females to breed with.
Like any wild animal, moose are unpredictable. Moose are likely to attack if annoyed or harassed, or if approached too closely. A moose that has been harassed may vent its anger on anyone in the vicinity, and often do not make distinctions between their tormentors and innocent bystanders.
When a car hits a Moose, the mass of a moose is above the hood of most passenger cars. In a collision, the impact crushes the front roof beams and individuals in the front seats. Collisions of this type are frequently fatal for those in the car since seat belts and airbags offer little protection.
The life span of an average moose is about 15–25 years.
Check out our Moose Statues at wallstreetgifts.com
ELK - The Elk population is found In North America and NE Asia. It is the 2nd largest member of the Deer family (moose largest). Elk first appear in the fossil record 25 million years ago, in Eurasia. However, elk did not appear in North America until later. There were thought to be 10 million Elk in North America at one time. North America has more Elk than Moose.
Elk migrate into areas of higher altitude in the spring, following the melting snow, and migrate the opposite direction in the fall. Hunting pressure also impacts migration and movements. Elk live in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. During the winter, elk favor wooded areas and sheltered valleys for protection from the wind and availability of tree bark to eat.
Elk are ruminants and therefore have four-chambered stomachs. Unlike white-tailed deer and moose, which are browsers, elk are similar to cattle and are grazers. But like other deer, they sometimes browse. Elk have a tendency to do most of their feeding in the mornings and evenings, seeking sheltered areas in between feedings to digest. During the summer, elk eat almost constantly, consuming between 9-15 lbs of vegetation daily. Elk are herd animals, and they tend to bed down together, making predation much more difficult because there are always a few elk with their heads up searching for danger. The herd of elk sleep a few hours, get up and feed, and then bed down again, but location may change.
Moose are larger and darker than elk – bulls of the two species have distinctively different antlers. Elk gather in herds, while moose are solitary. Elk cows weigh around 500 lbs. and stand 4.3 ft at the wither. Bulls are 40% larger than cows at maturity, weighing around 700 lbs. Bull antlers start growing in the spring and are shed each winter. The largest antlers may be 3.9 ft long and weigh 40 lb. Antlers are made of bone which can grow at close to an inch per day. Once the antlers have been shed after mating season, bulls tend to form bachelor groups which allow them to work cooperatively at fending off predators. Herds tend to employ one or more scouts while the remaining members eat and rest.
Adult elk usually stay in single-sex groups for most of the year. During the mating period known as the rut, mature bulls compete for the attention of the cow elks to form harems. Bull will aggressively try to fend off rival bulls from their harem.
Bulls dig holes in the ground called wallows, in which they urinate and roll their body. The urine soaks into their hair and gives them a distinct smell which attracts cows. Such fragrance! During the rut, a bull with a harem rarely eats and may lose up to 20 percent of his body weight.
Bulls have a loud vocalization consisting of screams known as bugling, which can be heard for miles. Bugling can travel great distances. Females are attracted to the males that bugle more often and have the loudest call.
When the females are near to giving birth, they tend to isolate themselves from the main herd, and will remain isolated until the calf is large enough to escape predators. Calves are born spotted, as is common with many deer species (a la Bambi), and they lose their spots by the end of summer.
The top 3 predators of Elk In North America are #1 wolves #2 coyotes #3 both brown and black bears.
In Yellowstone the elk herd numbers over 200,000 individuals. During spring and fall they take part in the longest elk migration in lower US. Elk in the southern regions of Yellowstone and surrounding National Forests migrate south towards Jackson, Wyoming where they winter for up to six months on the National Elk Refuge. States with significant elk populations are between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
Elk Populations in 2024 are interesting.
The most elk, 303,000 live in Colorado. Next is Montana with 157,000 - a lot more than the 2,300 moose. My sister regularly has elk in her backyard - even saw a birth of a baby elk - she lives in the Cascade Mountains in Washington where 47,500 elk live. A surprising population is the 35,000 elk that reside in Arizona. Most moose live west of the Mississippi. Although, even 100 elk live in West Virginia!
Elk hides have been used for thousands of years for tepee covering and moccasins.
An interesting fact about Elk is their eyes. They only have the bluish and greenish light cells. That means they do NOT see purple, red, pink, and orange. This is why orange has become the safety color for hunters in the field – the elk cannot see orange.
Check out our Elk statues on our web site, wallstreetgifts.com
DEER. Deer are widely distributed on all continents except Antarctica and Australia, though Africa has only one native deer.
The highest concentration of large deer species in temperate North America are the Canadian Rocky Mountain and Columbia Mountain regions where all five North American deer species (white-tailed deer, mule deer, caribou, elk and moose) live.
The White-tailed deer have recently expanded their range within the foothills and river valley bottoms of the Canadian Rockies owing to conversion of land to cropland and the clearing of coniferous forests allowing more deciduous vegetation to grow up the mountain slopes. They also live in the aspen parklands north of Calgary and Edmonton, where they share habitat with the moose. The Great Plains grasslands are the home of elk, American buffalo/bison.
Female reindeer and male deer grow and shed new antlers each year. White-tailed deer have the distinctive white rump. Antlers are not as impressive having a width of 3-25 inches. The bucks drop their antlers after the last female has been bred.
The size of the various subspecies of deer depends on where they live in relationship to the equator. The closer to the equator, the smallest (like the Florida Keys)….the further, the largest.
A grown deer can eat around 2,000 lb of vegetable matter annually. A foraging area around 20 deer per square mile can start to destroy the forest environment. The white-tailed deer has a four-chambered stomach. Each chamber has a different and specific function that allows the deer to eat a variety of different foods.
White-tailed deer breathe very heavily (blowing) and flee when possible predator appears. When they blow, the sound alerts other deer in the area. As they run, the flash of their white tails warns other deer – especially fawns. Deer hunting has been a popular activity since the Middle Ages and remains a resource for many families today. In the USA extending hunting season is used as a way to control deer population.
There are 18 different tick species that are found on white-tailed deer. Snow kills the ticks, but not all deer live in areas that get snow. Lyme disease is caused by tick bites. Kris Kristofferson was thought to have Alzheimer’s but it was discovered he had been bitten by tick in New England when filming a movie. Doctor prescribed medicine for Lyme disease and his “alzheimer’s” has disappeared!
There are 3 primary deer species in the USA. White-tailed, Black-tailed, Mule. The only state that has all 3 species is Washington with 100,000 of each species. Texas has the most deer of any state with 5.500.000. Overall the United States has 50 million deer. The state with the fewest deer is Nevada. All states have deer. At Wall Street Gifts we have deer statues.
All in the DEER family – but quite different – Moose, Elk and Deer. All beautiful in their own way.