07/07/11 Photos | Petra, Maine Wildlife Photos | Ken Anderson

07/07/11 18:22:28

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:32:44 -0400

That's it. The moose was simply passing through. These five photos were taken in rapid succession over a period of five seconds, and the moose is gone.

07/07/11 18:22:27

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:32:44 -0400

Moose live from fifteen to twenty-five years, and a bull moose can reach as much as 1,200 to 1,500 pounds, while the cows are much smaller, but often more than 900 pounds. A newborn moose will weigh from thirty to thirty-five pounds; by its first winter, it will weigh somewhere between 300 and 400 pounds.

07/07/11 18:22:25

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:32:44 -0400

The North American moose can be found throughout most of Canada, except for the arctic, most of Alaska, northern New England and upstate New York, as well as the upper Rocky Mountains, northeastern Minnesota, the northern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Moose are found throughout the State of Maine, and moose meat was a part of the diet of Native Americans, who also used moose hides for leather.

07/07/11 18:22:24

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:32:44 -0400

Although I saw no antlers, I'm guessing that this moose is a male. He is simply passing through, and happened to pass cut through the small clearing in the cedar swamp where my wildlife camera set up. This is the same camera location where we saw the deer a few days ago. It's not the best camera location, since several days go by without anything triggering the camera.

07/07/11 18:22:23

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:32:44 -0400

This is a larger, different moose than the ones that have appeared on camera before. Once a moose reaches one year of age, the males will develop antlers that grow in size with each new set of antlers he grows until he reaches his prime, after which antler sizes will reduce each year. In the fall or early winter, moose lose their antlers, only to grow a new, larger set the following spring. The antlers are formed of living tissue supplied by blood through a network of blood vessels covered by a soft, smooth skin known as velvet. In time, the tissue solidifies, the velvet is scraped off, and antlers become mineralized dead matter.