Canada Bull Moose
The Canada Moose is a mammal. It is the largest member of the deer family. It roams the boreal forest in Northern Ontario. The male is called a “Bull”. The female is a “Cow”, while the young of the year is called a “Calf”.
Imagine that you are a young Bull Moose. You are 4 ½ years old. You are mostly full grown, which means that you stand 6 feet tall at your shoulder hump, 7 ½ feet at the top of your head, and almost 9 feet at the top of your large palmated antlers. You already weigh well over one thousand pounds (450 kilos). Your antlers have a span of over 4 feet, with 18 points (tines) rising above your thick main beams. You are a very impressive creature, even in Summer when your antlers are still cloaked in “velvet”.
You love to feed on aquatic plants all Summer long. You wade into the shallow pond waters and stick your whole head below the water. You come back up with a mouthful of delicious lily pads and other vegetation. This stuff is rich in nutrients and minerals that you will need to grow your antlers and to help you survive the cold Winter weather ahead. Standing in the water is also a good way for you to get away from the pesky mosquitos and black flies that bite you all Summer long.
In the late Fall, and through the Winter, and into the early part of Spring, you change your eating habits. You feed mostly on leaves and twigs and branches of birch, poplar, willow and alder trees.
Winter is not a problem for you. You have a thick coat of long fur to keep you warm. Each strand of your Winter coat fur is hollow, trapping air as an insulator to keep you even warmer. You have long strong legs to power you through even the deepest snow.
You roam around a lot, walking down paths and logging roads when you can, or straight through a swamp or a marsh if need be, or even plowing through a stand of balsam fir trees with ease due to your size and strength. You can go where you want to go.
In the Fall the mating season starts. You suddenly change your daily habits and start searching for a Cow Moose to be your mate. You may have to fight off a larger older stronger Bull Moose with bigger antlers. Your first attempt does not succeed but eventually you will be the Bull that the Cow accepts. In the middle of the following Spring the Cow Moose will have a Calf Moose (sometimes two, and rarely three calves may be born).
You know that your antlers will be bigger next year. Each year in late Fall / early Winter, you drop your antlers and start to grow new ones in the following Spring. The next set is always bigger and better shaped than the previous one (although that changes when you get old). Its really awkward when your antlers fall off, because they never both fall off at the same time! Imagine having two large heavy antlers, weighing say 50 pounds each, one on the right and one on the left. Then one of them falls off! Can you imagine trying to maintain your balance with a 50 pound antler on the left side of your head, and no antler on the other side? Holy Cow! Or should we say “Holy Bull Moose!”? Eventually, within a few days the other antler falls off, and then you can go back to walking normally. What a weight off your shoulders!!!
That’s all right. You know that Spring is coming. Meanwhile you take care to watch out for Timber Wolves. A pack of wolves is not a match for a mature healthy Bull Moose, but they might try it anyway, so you are always on the lookout. Your large ears and excellent sense of smell help you to know when they are around.
As you stride majestically through your true north domain you can’t help but feel strong and free! Oh Canada Moose!
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NatureMan dedicates this story to Enzo, who lives in Quebec. Enzo is a guest of natureman.ca. You can see a post from Enzo in the “All for Fun” category in the “Pun Fun” section – click on link: https://natureman.ca/guestpunfun/.
