How much does the largest moose weigh? Where does the moose live?

Walk through wild forest always accompanied by intrigue - who can be met in these places. We invite you to meet the true ruler of the forest – the elk. Elk is a unique animal with many interesting features.

Elk is a mammal. The animal represents the order of artiodactyl ruminants. From a distance it can be confused with a deer, because both of these animals belong to the deer family. Distinctive feature animal - branched horns, similar to a plow. Because of this, the name elk is firmly attached to it among the people.

The artiodactyl is rightfully considered the largest representative of the deer. The height at the withers reaches more than 2 m 30 cm, and the length of its body is 3 m. Few forest dwellers can boast of such “external characteristics”. How much does an adult moose weigh with such an impressive size? In answering this question, it is impossible to name a single figure that can be used as a guide. A young moose weighs about 300 kg, and large adult representatives can exceed the 800 kg mark. On average, weight ranges around 500-600 kg, but females weigh less than males. An elegant moose can weigh only 200 kg in her body.

Taken from wikipedia.com

Moose speed

The chest of the artiodactyl is powerful, and the shoulder girdle is equally powerful. The legs are quite long, moderately thick, but with narrow hooves. This suggests that moose run well and are not forest bumpkins at all. The speed of an elk can reach 70 km/h, so when asked who runs faster, an elk or a deer, the primacy can be given to the elk. But the speed of a deer develops only up to 55 km/h. If we compare who covers the distance faster, a lion or an elk, then the elk loses. Eagles are also excellent swimmers - if necessary, they can swim up to 20 km continuously, but deer cannot boast of this.

The animal's fur is quite coarse, but the undercoat is soft. The animal prepares thoroughly for winter - its fur lengthens by about 10 cm, which prevents it from freezing in winter. The hair on the neck and withers is longer, so it appears as if there is a mane. The color of the elk is very interesting - in appearance it looks almost black, the brown color of its fur is so rich. In the lower part of the body, in the abdomen area, you can see a light brown color, which creates a beautiful ombre. The elk's legs have characteristic white “socks”. IN summer time the animal becomes darker, but by winter the fur becomes a little lighter.

Here is a visual video of a moose running across a field:

Horns

The biggest pride of a moose is its antlers. It was because of them that he became prey for humans. Even in ancient times, elk antlers in the house were considered the main prey of a hunter; they were a symbol of dexterity and good luck in hunting. The weight of such horns can reach an average of 20 kg and this is not surprising, because their span is almost two meters.

The base of the horns is a short trunk and a spade-shaped branch on which 18 branches are located. The elk's horns are individual. The size and location of the processes are distinctive features between animals. Usually the adult representative has the most massive and heaviest shoots, but a small moose can boast of its horns only after its first birthday. Initially they are soft, the base is covered with thin skin and short, delicate fur.

During this period, young individuals suffer from insect bites as they bite through the horns, reaching the blood vessels running inside. After about a year or so, the horns harden so much that active blood circulation in the tissues stops. From this moment on, the horns grow in width, and after five years the width of the shovel will be significantly larger than the shoots. At this age, the horns of a young individual become similar in shape to the horns of an adult.

Usually by the onset of winter the animal sheds its antlers. This is an absolutely painless procedure that brings him relief. To free itself from its antlers, the elk actively rubs them against trees, after which the antlers fall off. In the spring it grows new antlers, which harden in July. By the way, only males have horns, while females are deprived of such decoration.

"The moose has shed its antlers." Author: Theresa Holiday
"Abandoned elk antlers." Author: William Jacobson

There is an opinion that antlers are needed to protect the elk in the forest from other animals, but this is not true. The main purpose of the horns is to attract a female mating season and protecting her from other males. As the mating season passes, the horns become unnecessary. Shedding antlers for winter makes wintering much easier - it is easier for the animal to move around and find shelter.

The immediate cause of the loss of horns is a decrease in the amount of sex hormones produced in the animal’s body. As a result of hormone deficiency, special cells are activated at the base of the horns that can have a destructive effect on bone tissue. It is thanks to their work that the horns weaken significantly and then disappear altogether. The elk's horns become important products for forest animals - squirrels, birds and predatory animals eat protein, which is found in abundance in the horns.

Where does moose live?

Moose live mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. Previously in European countries shooting of moose was allowed, so a century and a half ago there were practically no moose left. Environmental laws have been adopted in Russia, thanks to which the moose population has been preserved. However, isolated cases of poaching still occur.

Modern Europe also acquired these animals, and they were brought to the north. Moose now live in Belarus, Norway, Finland, Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary. The Baltic countries can also boast of elk. The artiodactyl feels at ease in Russia - its distribution area extends from the Kola Peninsula to steppe zone on South. The elk is widespread in both Canada and the United States of America.

Animals love cool things coniferous forests, where there is marshy soil, rivulets or streams. They feel best in the forest-tundra because there is a lot of different trees. Routine does not suit the animal, so the elk will look for diverse greenery.

Artiodactyls do not move very actively - they look for food near their permanent habitat, and if the area is rich in food, then the elk can stay in such an area for a long time. Since they love medium-sized and low-growing bushes, they suffer from a lack of food in winter. Sometimes the height of the snow cover exceeds 70 cm, which is unacceptable for those places where groups of moose live. This forces the moose to look for a new place to live. The animal cannot get food in such a layer of snow. In this case, animals migrate to places with less snow cover, and in the spring they return to their usual habitat. A group of moose is quite grouped; in winter they try not to wander far from each other, but in spring they show more independence.

To chew food, the elk has eight large and powerful incisors located on lower jaw. All elk eat is plants, so the animal's teeth are designed for prolonged grinding. Also, six molars and the same number of small molars are involved in the chewing process.

What does an elk eat when living in the forest - of course, pasture plants. Among the animal's preferences are grasses, shrubs, moss, mushrooms, and lichens. Among the trees, elk prefer to eat the succulent leaves of rowan, birch, maple and ash. If there are swamps in the area where the animal usually lives, then the artiodactyl will happily feast on plants growing near water. The elk loves marsh water lily, marigold, and egg pods. When young sedge arrives, animals are happy to include it in their diet.

Author: Stefania Backer

Among herbs, elk prefer fireweed, fireweed, and sorrel. The diet includes lingonberries and blueberries, and in the fall, moose also add tree bark. If the animal loves so much succulent plants What does a moose eat when autumn and winter come? As soon as the leaves begin to dry and fall off, the elk actively eat the branches. At this time, you can see a lot of bitten bushes in the forest - this is the work of moose. In winter, moose eat tree bark and shrubs - pine, forest raspberry, rowan or fir. All that the elk eats at this time is rather meager and monotonous food. You can get lichen and tree debris from under the snow in winter. The food that elk eat can reach about 35 kg per day in the summer, but in winter it is three times less. IN winter time During the year, moose drink very little water.

Interesting fact

Moose eat mainly in the morning and late evening. In the middle of the day they lie down in places where they are not bothered by blood-sucking insects.

Lifespan

Moose live for about 25 years, but in their natural habitat their life expectancy is approximately 10 years. Some moose die from predators living in the forest, various diseases. Other animals die at the hands of humans. Winter is an alarming time - many animals die during the movement of ice, and babies do not survive the harsh cold.

Author: Sarah Blare
Author: Richard Hardman

Very often deer and elk are confused. And this is not surprising, because the descriptions of the animals are similar, and only an experienced person will see the differences. Both animals represent the artiodactyl order and the deer family. Of course, belonging to the same classification group ensures similarity between these animals, but there are still significant differences. For example, a moose has heaviest weight from deer, but the weight of a deer is three times less.

Another fact that distinguishes elk from its relative, deer, is its antlers. Elk also boasts longer legs, which deer do not have. The structure of animal horns is also different - the direction of growth and the shape of the branches. It can also be noted that a deer and its female can have antlers, but only males have antlers on moose.

• Moose are not only excellent swimmers, but also divers - an elk can dive to a depth of about 5 meters for prey and hold its breath under water for half a minute.

Elk is the largest representative in the Deer family. It is also the tallest ungulate after the giraffe. But if the giraffe reaches such a height due to its long neck, then the moose is a true giant. From time immemorial, moose have been hunted, but the attitude towards this animal was not purely consumerist, but respectful. Among the American Indians, bearing the name Moose was considered an honor.

Elk (Alces alces).

Among other deer, the elk stands out sharply due to its appearance. The first thing that catches your eye is its huge size - the body length can reach 3 m, the height of the elk exceeds 2 m, and its weight is 500-600 kg. The elk's body is relatively short, but its legs are very long. The muzzle of the elk also does not look like its brothers. The moose's head is large and heavy, the muzzle is long, the large upper lip hangs slightly over the lower one. Elk horns have a characteristic shape: the base of the horn (trunk) is short, from it the processes radiate forward, to the sides and back in a semi-fan, the trunk is connected to the processes by a flattened part - a “shovel”. For this shape, the elk received the nickname “elk”.

Some moose have a fold of skin hanging under the throat, the so-called “earring”.

However, the shape of the horns varies among moose from different regions. Their size also depends on the age of the elk: the older the animal, the wider the size of the “shovel” and the more branches it has. Only males wear moose antlers. The color of moose is the same - dark brown with a lighter belly and legs.

An extremely rare white moose.

The hooves of elk, compared to other deer, are very wide. This shape of hooves is necessary for animals to move through the viscous soil of swamps, which is not easy for such a giant. Long legs allow the elk to easily move in dense forests, along muddy river banks and deep snow.

If necessary, elk can easily reach speeds of 30-40 km/h.

Its distribution area is huge. It is found in Europe, Asia and North America from the tundra border in the north to forest-steppe regions in the south. IN prehistoric times Moose formed the basis of the diet of primitive people, along with deer, aurochs (primitive bulls) and mammoths. Moose have now been extirpated from many parts of their range. For example, in Western Europe they can only be found in Scandinavian countries.

A huge elk in the forest can be invisible.

Moose are purely forest animals. On the one hand, they gravitate toward dense and impassable forests, on the other, they are often forced to feed on the edges and in thickets along the banks of rivers. IN North America moose often visit populated areas.

A moose wandered into a parking lot (USA). The photo clearly shows the real size of the beast.

Elks lead a solitary lifestyle and even during the rut do not form large concentrations. Moose feed mainly on branches of trees and bushes. In some tree nurseries, moose are pests because they can completely eat a couple of hectares of young pines over the winter.

Moose especially like branches of willow, birch, aspen and pine.

In summer, moose willingly eat grass, mushrooms and even algae. Elks are generally partial to aquatic vegetation; they gladly visit bodies of water, where they not only hide from summer midges, but also graze. An elk can even dive for a portion of algae, although usually it is enough for a long-legged elk to simply bend its neck.

Elk feeds in a pond.

The mating season for moose begins at August-September. The males begin to roar dully. Females come to their call. Elk rarely form large aggregations during the rut, and they also do not engage in exhausting fights between males.

Usually, after several such butts, the weak one gives way to a stronger opponent.

Females give birth to one (less often two) moose calves in April-May. Like all deer, moose calves prefer to lie down under some bush for the first week of life (although they can walk), only then do they begin to accompany their mother.

Female moose with calf.

It is interesting that at first the long-legged elk calves cannot reach the grass and graze on their knees.

A young elk grazes on his knees.

However, babies grow quickly and soon begin to eat on the same basis as their mother. Moose live 20-25 years, but in nature they usually die earlier. Natural enemies moose have a lot. The large size of the moose does not scare away predators, but rather even attracts them. After all, by killing one such giant you can provide yourself with food for many days to come. The main enemies of moose are wolves and bears. If a large bear can fight an elk on equal terms, then wolves contrast elk with agility and numbers. A wolf alone will not dare to fight an elk, but a pack of wolves poses a serious danger. Often wolves adhere to the tactic of driving (wearing down) an elk, driving it out open space and surround.

A pack of wolves caught a moose.

It is difficult for Sokhat to maintain a perimeter defense, especially if the fight takes place on the ice of a reservoir. Here the elk's legs perform a sad service. Long-legged moose are completely helpless on ice and can simply break their limbs (even without the participation of wolves). The picture looks completely different when the elk is in the thicket. Here he often takes a defensive defense: covering his rear with some tree or thickets of bushes, the elk defends itself from attackers with blows from its front legs. With these signature blows, the elk is capable of splitting the skull of a wolf and can easily defend itself against a bear. Therefore, predators avoid meeting elk face to face. Elk calves can be attacked by cougars and lynxes. For moose, winter lack of food poses a great danger; some animals die in winter from exhaustion.

For humans, elk is also a desirable prey. Elk meat tastes like beef, but as always, the main reason for hunting it is human vanity. Moose antlers taken from a live animal are considered an honorable trophy. And often it’s not even the horns, but a simple photograph of the captured trophy that becomes the goal of this hunt. Few people know that the formidable and powerful elk can be easily tamed. By the way, moose are rarely seen in zoos. Moose are difficult to keep because they consume a lot of branch food, which is not easy to provide for the animals. Moose are also sensitive to overheating, so they are not kept in zoos in hot countries. But in the Pechoro-Ilych Nature Reserve in the 50-60s, experiments were conducted on the domestication of elk. Unlike most crazy experiments Soviet era, these attempts were very successful. Within a short time, it was possible to create a moose farm, all of whose pets were absolutely tame and controllable. It turned out that to tame a moose, it is enough to simply feed it milk.

Little moose calves become so attached to a person that they simply perceive him as their mother.

The experiment revealed another unusual quality of moose - they have phenomenal memory. An elk fed by a human remembers its teacher all its life! There were cases when moose raised by people went into the forest, but when they met many years later, adult wild animals recognized the person and responded to the name! The question is, why does a person need a domesticated elk? It turned out that there are many discoveries on this issue as well. Not only can elk be a source of meat, it can also be milked. Moose milk has a higher fat content than cow's milk, and males can be used as draft animals. Sounds funny? But don't rush to conclusions. After all, domesticated moose were not intended for the middle zone at all, but for remote taiga regions, where traditional animal husbandry has no place. It turned out to be more profitable to use moose to move across deep off-road terrain than horses. But the experiments did not receive a worthy continuation. As usual, the country’s leadership decided that they would drive all-terrain vehicles and lay railways in permafrost is more correct than messing with living beings. But in the USA moose farms still exist today.

Russia is a bear. The beast is powerful, dangerous, unpredictable and invincible. This stereotype has taken root throughout the world and will probably never be erased.

Now, that's not true.

Russia is a moose.

Elk is the most mass appearance large ungulates in our country. Perhaps it is inferior in number to wild reindeer, but it is possible that it gained an advantage over it exactly at the time when our magazine was in print: the number of reindeer is depressingly falling, while the number of moose is growing. In addition, official data on elk numbers are the subject of constant monitoring - both by hunting users and by the authorities responsible for distributing limits. But who seriously thinks about reindeer?

After the significant depression that the moose population suffered throughout the world at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, its growth began somewhere in the sixties. Recently, this growth has been fueled by an increase in the amount of abandoned agricultural land and its overgrowing with deciduous trees. tree species– now, 25 years after the collapse of the USSR agricultural machine, the thickets in the fields are an ideal feeding station for moose.

At the same time, we must not forget that in another 10–15 years the shoots will “go away from under the muzzle” of the beast, and the number will begin to decline again. By the way, elk belongs precisely to those species for which small-scale logging is one of the most preferred types of biotechnology.

The moose is a serious animal in all respects. Firstly, it is big, there is a lot of meat in it. Secondly, it inhabits various inconvenient areas that are practically unsuitable for all other ungulates. Elk can be found in burnt areas and mires, in pine forests and spruce forests, in ribbon forests in the middle of the steppe in the Balkhash region and in the Chukotka tundra. What can I say - I killed one elk on the shores of the harsh lake Elgygytgyn, one hundred and eighty kilometers from the nearest decent forest, in the middle of the Anadyr Highlands. In North America, the situation is similar: I was once interested in the fauna of the lower reaches of the Mackenzie River, and Canadian zoologist Bruce McLellan melancholy said that of the large mammals, almost none of the large mammals live in the dark coniferous taiga there - with the exception of moose, “which live wherever the bushes at least reach their sides,” he added literally. Judging by the fact that the remains of fossil moose were discovered even on the New Siberian Islands, this animal can exist in treeless areas - it’s just that there it becomes very vulnerable to predators. Well, especially for a person.

Popularizers love to talk about the antiquity of moose and their modernity to mammoths. This, to put it mildly, is not entirely true. Elk, in fact, populated those landscapes that replaced the vast grassy plains that created “that same” unique mammoth complex. Despite the fact that bone remains of true moose have been known since the Middle Pleistocene, moose were relatively few in number during the Ice Age. The real flowering and active formation of this species occurred only in the Holocene - and it was in the Holocene that moose reached their heyday.

It’s funny, but it was Fennoscandia, which today is considered the main moose “breadbasket”, that the animals settled at the very last place, about 10 thousand years ago.

So. At the beginning of the Holocene, elk lived almost throughout Europe. Then, under the influence of the anthropogenic factor, the border began to retreat to the east. The last moose was killed in Saxony in 1777; in Galicia - and even earlier, in 1769. At the end of the 18th century, the elk disappeared from the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in East Prussia - during the First World War. Thus, in the twenties of the 20th century, the European moose survived only in Russia and Scandinavia.

What moose live in the world today and where?

European moose - Alces alces alces. The height at the withers of an adult male is up to 190–200 cm, body length is 260–270 cm, weight can reach up to 500 and even 600 kg. Antlers with an undivided spade and deer-like shape predominate. The color of the body and head is uniform, brownish-brown, the lower part of the legs is light gray, whitish.

East Siberian or Yakut elk - Alces alces pfizenmayeri . Adult males are 190–205 cm at the withers, body length 260–290 cm, horn span 100–110 cm, the shovel is divided into two parts. There are 1–3 processes on the front blade. The color is like that of the European moose, but darker in winter, and with more dark legs, sometimes not different in color from the body.

Ussuri elk - Alces alces cameloides . The smallest moose. Adult bulls are 170–190 cm at the withers, body length 230–280 cm. The weight of males is from 250 to 400 kg (rare), on average about 300 kg. The antlers are deer-shaped, the span of the antlers is 80–100 cm. The number of shoots is from 3 to 8 on one shovel. The coloring is dark, but the legs are usually light.

Alaskan moose - Alces alces gigas . The largest moose are along with “Buturlin’s moose”. The most authoritative researchers combine them into one form. Adult bulls have a height at the withers of 190–220 cm or more, a body length of 270–330 cm, a weight of 400–700 kg or more. The horns are very large, with a wide blade divided into two parts. The span of the horns is 120–150 cm, and can reach 195. The color is dark, with an admixture of black, and a dark stripe runs along the ridge.

Buturlina elk, or Chukchi elk - Alces alces buturlini . The dimensions correspond to the Alaskan moose, and even possibly larger (the author personally weighed a male with a live weight of 810 kg). The horns are similar to the Alaskan, the head and upper body are brown, the sides are dark brown, there is a dark stripe on the ridge, the belly, with the exception of the groin area, and the outer parts of the legs are black.

Apparently, the Alaskan and Chukchi moose have the same center of origin, which was once located in the now submerged land of Beringia. A certain giant river flowed through it, the tributaries of which were the paleo-Anadyr and paleo-Yukon, along which the giant elk settled in both directions. By the way, for trophy hunters: the elk in most of the Kolyma basin is Chukchi. The elk of the Penzhina basin is Chukchi. The elk in Kamchatka is doubly Chukchi, because it was BROUGHT there from the Anadyr basin.

Western Canadian moose - Alces alces andersoni . Height at the withers is 180–200 cm, body length of adult bulls is 255–275 cm, weight is 350–550 kg. The span of the horns is usually 90–115 cm, the number of shoots on one shovel is 8–12. The color is lighter than that of the Alaskan subspecies.

Shiras elk - Alces alces shirassi . Moose of small to medium size. The body length of adult bulls is 260–270 cm, weight 300–400 kg. The hooves are small, very lightly colored. The upper back is light brown, the ears are pale gray.

Eastern Canadian moose - Alces alces americanus . Medium sized moose. The height of average bulls at the withers is 180–185 cm, body length 250–290 cm, weight 350–450 kg. The horns are usually with a wide divided spade. It has a light brown color.

Here is a real, and not a “trophy” classification of the “Elk” species - as it is seen by researchers, and not by the compilers of trophy books of all kinds, which are based, in addition to purely biological criteria, on a lot of others - including personal and commercial ones.

However, regardless of the color of the skin, the size of the horns and the number of shoots, for the vast majority of the population, elk is primarily an important meat resource.

As Vitka Maslov, a commercial hunter from the Omolon River, once used to say, indignant at the behavior of the German trophy hunters entrusted to his efforts: “A good elk is one that has a lot of meat in it!” What else do they want?

How much meat is there in elk?

Hunters and commodity experts have established with irrefutable accuracy: the yield of marketable meat products from an elk is about 40–50% of its live weight.

Game experts E. Knorre and Y. Yazan, based on numerous measurements, developed a table that allows one to determine with some accuracy the live weight of a hunted animal without directly weighing it, using a tape measure. How it's done? The oblique length of the body (from the glenohumeral joint to the root of the tail) and its circumference in the chest behind the shoulder blades are measured. It is further calculated according to the table below.

That's how much meat there is in elk.

Moose hunting

Moose in European Russia has long been the subject of endless division of limits and licenses. IN Soviet time sole ownership of a license (not for a collective) for a elk denoted membership in the highest circle of the elite: the regional committee or city committee of the party, the corps of directors of factories or state farms.

I will never forget how a certain head of department of one of the regions persuaded me:

- Mikha, why do you need a license at all? Won't you kill without her? And so your license will go to the right person- some cop or the head of a department in the regional committee!

As they now write on the Internet, “this is all you need to know about the licensing system in the former Soviet Union.” THE USSR".

The vast majority of hunts are in the densely populated part of the Central federal district carried out in a raid (or in droves, as is now commonly expressed).

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To a lesser extent, in the same regions with developed hunting, hunting from a tower or ambush on feeding grounds or on salt licks is developed.

But to the east of the Urals, moose hunting on salt licks is already the main one, and, perhaps, surpasses driven hunting in popularity! And the degree of diligence of the owner is determined, primarily, not by the area of ​​sown fields, but by the number of solonetzes planted.

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In areas with low population density and weak hunting control services, moose harvesting for meat from an off-road vehicle, snowmobile or motor boat is widespread. The real blow to the elk population was the fall in purchase prices for sable skins. Unexpectedly, an animal with a slaughter weight of 150–200 kg, provided the meat costs from 150 rubles per kilo, turned into a source of very good income.

Unfortunately, in the vast majority of regions, elk is also the most accessible species for hunting; and at the same time the most vulnerable.

I remember how at the beginning of the 2000s we made our way deep into the Kolyma Highlands in our combat research “shishiga”, scouting the habitat areas of bighorn sheep. Suddenly, a Ural drove out from around a bend in the river, on the running board of which stood a man with a carbine in his hands.

The Ural stopped, and the man turned out to be a local game warden. He checked our documents, assessed our equipment and arsenal, and asked about the purpose of the trip. When we told him about it, he twirled his finger at his temple and offered to join him - of course, in search of elk.

“The ram is small, and you have to climb the hell out of nowhere to get it,” as proof, he pointed his finger at the tops of the hills that had begun to become covered with snow. “The elk roams below, more than ten times, but is taken easily. With two cars and such guns, in three days we will fill the bodies with meat!

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Hunting “by roar” - with luring a bull with a voice imitating the rutting call of another male - is an amazing hunt, in which the shooter reveals himself to the greatest extent as an expert in the habits of the animal, a naturalist and generally a smart person. The fact is that when beckoning, you need to very well understand the behavior of the animal being called, remember about many external circumstances, such as the direction of the wind, the density of the undergrowth, the presence of convenient access routes, etc.

In addition, in uninhabited eastern regions, it is not uncommon for a bear to enter an elk tree with the same goal as the hunter...

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Hunting for elk from the approach on the ground or on the bed is one of the most beautiful and sporting hunts for large animals known to me in general. But it requires absolute mastery on the part of the concealer and the remarkable skills of the forester: the elk on the bed and on the fat is extremely sensitive and careful, in which he is helped by his amazing sense of smell and hearing. The exception is approaching it through freshly fallen snow: in such circumstances, the shooter can approach the animal on the prone area almost closely.

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Glorified by romantics, moose hunting with dogs (mostly huskies) continues to spread, although its popularity is constantly declining. Keeping beast dogs requires special conditions in an apartment/house (huskies generally live very poorly in urban conditions), as well as financial costs and constant maintenance of the dog’s shape, which becomes difficult when the number of training stations and experienced instructors is reduced.

With all this, I consider individual elk hunting in the forest without huntsman support and the use of technical means to be one of the most interesting, exciting and difficult.

Here I would like to remind you how in noble houses they tested the cook for her cooking ability. She was asked to cook meat and potatoes. Not profiteroles, not poached consommé, not some kind of julienne and other delights of European non-cuisine (I won’t say for whom, from my point of view, it is intended - I’ll offend too many people). Namely, fried or stewed meat with boiled potatoes. And if the cook coped with this task, she was recognized as fit to serve in a noble Russian noble house.

So: the ability to kill an elk in the forest alone is exactly the same general quality test for a Russian game hunter as cooking meat and potatoes is for a Russian cook.

By the way, I suspect that in most cases the cook was given elk meat.

Text: Mikhail Kretschmar

Photo: Shutterstock / Fotodom.ru

Elk is the largest representative of the deer family. The elk lives in Europe, North America, central Russia, and the Far East.

Anyone who has seen a moose will confirm that this is an animal of impressive size. So how much does an adult moose weigh if it is that big?

Appearance

Where does moose live?

Moose common in forest areas Northern Hemisphere, less common in forest-steppe and steppe. In Europe lives in the following regions:

In North America, the elk lives in the northeastern United States, Alaska, and Canada.

There are about 1.5 million moose all over the Earth, 730,000 of this number live in Russia.

Various sources claim that there are from 4 to 8 subspecies of elk. The most major representatives belong to the East Siberian and Alaskan subspecies. The smallest is Ussuri.

Nutrition, lifestyle

Elks inhabit forests, live on the banks of rivers and steppe lakes, and are found in thickets of willow trees; in the forest-tundra - along birch and aspen forests. In the tundra and steppe, animals can be observed far from the forest.

Reservoirs are of great importance for animals., near which moose escape the heat and find edible aquatic vegetation. IN winter period they prefer conifers and mixed forests. Where the level of snow cover is no more than 50 cm, animals lead a sedentary lifestyle; in snowier regions, they move to places with less snow for the winter. Migration to wintering areas usually occurs in late autumn. The females and cubs go first, followed by the males. During the day, the animal can cover 10-15 km. The return to their previous place of residence occurs during the period of snow melting.

Moose do not have strictly defined resting and feeding times.. Here everything is dictated by the season. In summer the animals are predominantly nocturnal; in winter they are active during the day. The location of their camps depends on the availability of food. In Central Russia these are young pine forests, in Siberia – thickets of willow or birch forests, in the Far East – rare coniferous forests. One stall can be occupied by several elk at the same time. There is evidence that 100 or more animals gathered in a small area.

Here's what moose eat:

• grass;
• shrubs;
• woody vegetation;
• mushrooms;
• lichens.

In summer, they even take out leaves from tall trees and love to feed on semi-aquatic and aquatic plants and grass. Towards the end they begin to eat the branches. During a thaw, they eat the bark. An adult moose eats about 30 kg of food per day, in winter - about 15 kg. Thus, an elk consumes more than 7 tons of feed per year. Imagine how much the moose weighs afterwards.

If the number of animals is large, they can damage forest nurseries and plantings. Animals often visit salt licks, and in winter they lick salt from the roads.

Moose – excellent swimmers and runners. Can remain underwater for more than a minute; the sense of smell and hearing are developed, although vision is rather weak. They defend themselves from predators by striking their front legs.

The elk attacks people very rarely, usually when the biped approaches the cubs or under other irritants.

Social structure, reproduction

Single individuals of both sexes live separately, but occasionally they can live in groups of 4-5 animals. In summer and winter, females live with elk calves; sometimes single individuals join them; by spring, this formation disintegrates.

The rut occurs in the fall, at this time you can hear the characteristic roar of males. During this period, animals are extremely aggressive and can even attack humans. Males arrange fights, as a result of which one of the rivals often dies. Because the animals are monogamous, they rarely mate with more than one female moose.

Pregnancy lasts about 235 days. One cub is born, although older females occasionally have twins. Elk calves stand on their feet immediately after birth, and after a couple of days they are able to move around. Sexual maturity occurs at approximately 2 years.

Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of an elk is about 10 years, but in captivity it can increase to 22 years.

Economic purpose

Game animal. In a number of countries they tried to domesticate it, but the idea was not successful due to the complexity of its maintenance. But since Soviet times, two moose farms have remained in the Russian Federation: the Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve and the Kostroma one.

Moose milk is similar to cow's milk, but fattier, which is why it is often used for medicinal purposes. Moose meat is much tastier than meat other deer are softer and more tender.

Number

Poachers cause great damage to the population. Diseases and injuries also lead to a reduction in the number of animals, often causing death. The number of moose is also decreasing due to predators.

Annual mortality in adults is 7-16%; among young people, in the first year of life, up to 50%. Moose are hunted by wolves and bears. As a rule, sick, old and young animals become prey. The wolf is not dangerous to a strong adult individual.

Most often, the elk gets sick due to a tapeworm that infects nervous system, and also because of the tick.

Moose are often hit by cars, and, by the way, vehicle drivers often suffer. Don’t forget, an elk can weigh a lot.

Elk is a cloven-hoofed mammal, the largest species of the deer family. The body length of males reaches 3 m, the height at the withers is 2.3 m, they weigh 250-570 kg. Males have horns, females do not. Moose are widespread in the forest and forest-steppe zones of our country from the western borders to Far East and Chukotka. Animals are well adapted to harsh frosty and snowy winters, their body is covered with coarse hair. On the upper side of the neck and withers long hair form a mane, a hair-covered skin outgrowth (“earring”) hangs from the throat, and a short tail.

The moose genus includes 6 subspecies, of which 4 live in the USSR and 2 in North America. We have about 700 thousand wild moose. They live in forests alone or in small groups. They feed on grasses, trees and shrubs, lichens and mushrooms. An adult moose eats up to 35 kg of food per day in summer, and only 12-15 kg in winter. Wolves, bears, and wolverines are dangerous for moose, especially young ones. However, mature, strong moose can fend for themselves. Their hooves are formidable weapons. During the rut, males can also be dangerous to humans, so you should not get close to adult wild elk.

Since ancient times, man has tried to tame and domesticate these strong and beautiful animals. It is believed that this was done 4-5 thousand years ago. Evidence can be provided, for example, by rock paintings found in Siberia, in which elk are depicted along with other domestic animals.

Why are there no domesticated moose in our time? Most likely, the elk simply could not stand the competition with a cow, pig, or sheep. It was easier to obtain milk, meat, wool from them, and it was more convenient to use horses as a transport animal. In addition, elk have always been hunted. And it seemed that it was enough to shoot the animals - and you could prepare as much meat as required.

Nevertheless, the interest of researchers in the domestication of moose is growing. Scientists strive to obtain from these animals not only meat, but also healing milk and antlers. Researchers are also attracted by the fact that elk is a very unpretentious animal that has many valuable qualities: it grows quickly, reaches large sizes and eats plants that farm animals do not eat. There is no need to build warm rooms for moose - they are warmed by their own fur coat.

For more than 40 years, Soviet scientists have been working on the domestication of moose. Among them are employees of the Kostroma Agricultural Experimental Station, where a scientific laboratory for moose breeding and a moose farm have been created.

The taming of elk calves is carried out using a special technique developed by the elk breeding laboratory. It is very important from birth to inhibit their feeling of fear of humans, and then develop obedience so that they can control animals.

The main thing in domestication is the use of biological patterns of animal behavior. First, the calf develops “imprinting.” A newborn elk calf remembers whoever appears in front of it first, be it its mother or a human, and follows it. And if you feed a calf from your hands, it will remember the person even better. “Following” is the second biological pattern. The calf gradually gets used to the one who cares for him, and even when he becomes an adult, he is not afraid of him, he boldly approaches, expecting a treat - a cracker or a little salt. Only those young moose calves are selected for further breeding that are well accustomed to people, to the moose farm, to the territory in which they graze, combined with high productivity. This is the process of domestication.

The staff of the moose breeding laboratory at the Kostroma Experimental Station pays great attention to feeding moose calves. And by spring, one-year-old moose already weigh 200-230 kg. A two-year-old young moose cow at home usually gives birth to 2 calves, but in the wild her peers give birth in the third year and only one calf each.

In nature, a moose cow feeds a calf for 2-3 months. On the farm, moose cows are milked for 5-6 months. For milking, a special milking machine and even an entire installation have been designed. This type of milking was used for the first time in the world. Each moose milks 500 kg or more of milk.

Moose milk is thick, reminiscent of cream. It contains 12-14% fat, about 9% protein and 5.4% sugar. It does not turn sour for almost a week, as it is resistant to various bacteria. The bactericidal nature of elk milk and its high content (more than cow milk) of fatty acids, proteins, microelements and vitamins make it possible to use it in medicine as a remedy for gastrointestinal diseases. No less valuable are elk antlers, which contain biologically active substances, from which a valuable drug is obtained. Elk can be used for transport under saddle and pack. It takes place in hard-to-reach forest and swampy places. Elks freely lift a pack weighing 80-120 kg, and carry the entire 500 kg in a sled.

Of course, domesticating an elk is not that easy. There are still many unresolved questions. But the successes that have been achieved inspire confidence that they will be overcome. But this is a necessary and promising matter.