The greatest enemies of the moose, other than humans, are wolves and bears both black and grizzly. Seeing a wolf pack kill a moose is almost universally repulsive to humans, even those who recognize it as part of the natural world.
The size, power and speed of a bull moose in particular forces the pack to use every possible aspect of the situation to their advantage if they are to be successful. Barry Lopez, in his excellent book Of Wolves and Men , describes a kill: The idea of wolves on the hunt powerfully engages the human imagination. The wolf spends perhaps one-third of his life in pursuit of food. It is a task for which he evolved and to which he is well suited. With powerful jaw muscles he will clamp down on a moose's bulbous nose and hold on tenaciously while the moose swings him clear of the ground or stomps on him in a vain effort to throw him off.
Wolves kill the largest ungulates by running alongside them, slashing at their hams, ripping at their flanks and abdomen, tearing at the nose and head, harassing the animal until it weakens enough through loss of blood and the severing of muscles to be thrown to the ground. At this point the wolves usually rip open the abdominal cavity and begin eating, sometimes before the animal is dead. If the chase has been a hard one, the wolves may rest before eating anything.
Moose, however, seem to fare quite well against wolves statistically, for reasons that are not completely understood. The greatest success ratios by wolves are with calves and older moose with arthritic joints or other health problems.
Wildlife biologist L. Of the 96 that ran: - 43 got away immediately, - 34 were surrounded but not harmed, - 12 made successful defensive stands, - 7 were attacked, - 6 were killed, - 1 was wounded and abandoned. Moose are the favourite game animal for hunters in Alaska, and each year , animals are taken in the state.
Both males and females have them, but male bells tend to be larger. Some of them are fat and 20 inches long, some are just tufts of hair. Some say it helps with heat regulation. The long strands that sometimes hang down can also freeze and break off in the winter.
Many biologists speculate that dewlaps bells play a part in the mating rituals, perhaps for dispensing scents from bull urine and saliva, if that could ever be appealing. Perhaps size and shape are attractiveness indicators. And that is all I know. Spring is a great time to see moose on the Gunflint Trail, because they prefer cool temperatures under 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the lack of snow allows them to move through the forest with ease.
The fur is actually hollow and allows for many features, such as keeping them warm during the winter and for buoyancy when in water. One of the oddest characteristics of Alces alces is the presence of the dewlap , also called the bell. The dewlap is the flap of skin that hangs under a moose's chin. The function of the dewlap is unknown, but there are theories for it. One theory is that the dewlap is used for communication during the rut, both by sight and smell.
During the rut a bull will rub the cow with his chin, also called chinning, and the dewlap transfers this bull's scent to the female. Another theory is that the size and shape of the dewlap may be an indicator of dominance to other bulls, just like the size of the antlers are.
Go to Classification to see where the moose fits into the grand scheme of things! Also, check out MultipleOrganisms. Go to Mooseworld.
0コメント