Nosy Scientists Study Moose

Moose have captured the imagination of Granite Staters. Our vanity plates bear a picture of a moose. We have moose tours and moose watches in "Moose Alley.".  Beers , restaurants, and mountains are named after moose.

Scientists have joined this moose mania, extensively studying these huge, lumbering creatures.  Katharine Gammon of Our Amazing Planet (2/25/ 2013) supplies some fun facts.

Why you don't want to collide with a moose. Males and females are both about 4 to 6 feet tall at the shoulder. But, the male weighs 950 pounds, while the female weighs "only" 750 pounds. That size could pretty much demolish your car..

Why you don't want to anger or startle a moose. They are generally  easy-going and slow moving, but can become aggressive and run at speeds up to 35 mph.  By comparison, Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt's top speed is 28 mph. So, you are destined to lose the race if you are chased by  an angry moose.

Should you invite a moose over for dinner? I don't think so. Moose eat up to 50 pounds of plants each day. A moose stomach can hold up to 112 pounds of food at one time.  That will strain any family's budget.

How about a little swim with a moose? Be prepared to be humiliated. A moose can swim at a rate of 6 mph. It can submerge under water for 30 seconds or more and dive to a depth of  16 feet. By comparison, the average swimmer pokes along at 3.5 mph.

Would you like to have a moose as a pet? On a farm in Russia, there is a small herd of domesticated moose that are used as pets and for their milk. According to Katharine Gammon, "In Sweden there was a debate in the late 18th Century about the national value of using the moose as a domestic animal. Among other things, proposals came up to use moose in postal distribution, and there was a suggestion to develop a moose-mounted cavalry."  A moose as your letter carrier?  Why not? They could hang the mail bags on their antlers.

The moose shares a problem that some of us humans experience - its nose is very big. Lisa Olney discusses in the Burlington Free Press (6/27/2014) some possible scientific explanations for the Cyrano de Bergerac-size nose of the moose. Its nose is fully 65 percent of the length of a moose's head.

On the basis of his research, Dr. Lawrence Witmer of Ohio University suggests that a moose's nose offers two advantages not seen in other mammals: stereolfaction and waterproof nasal passages.

Stereolfaction is the ability to determine the location of the origin of a smell. We humans sometimes (unfortunately) smell  something (bad) and can't figure out what (or who) created that (offensive) odor. With stereolfaction, we could determine precisely who the culprit is.

Here's how it works. We humans have stereoscopic vision, but not stereolfaction. Each of our eyes sees a slightly different "picture" of the world. The degree of overlap between these two images in the brain provides a powerful cue for depth perception - how far that object is from me. The widely separated nostrils of the moose gain separate scents which when combined in the brain tell it the origin of the smell. So don't try to sneak anything past a moose.

The waterproof nasal passages of the moose provide a distinct advantage in foraging for aquatic food, which constitutes a major portion of a moose's diet. More than a few mammals (like humans) can flare their nostrils, but only a few can close them. An inflow of water into a moose's nostril expands a pad of connective tissue which blocks the water.

According to Olney, "it's not uncommon to see moose standing in the middle of wetlands, their heads full submerged as they graze on underwater plants Aquatic habitats provide moose refuge from insects and from heat: Because of their size and thick coats, moose are especially susceptible to heat stress which, on a calm day, begins at just 62 degrees."

So there you have it - a few tips on how to get along with a moose.  Don't invite it over for dinner. And don't challenge it to a race, either on land or water.  Don't collide with one in your car. Don't have one as your pet, unless you live in a swamp. And, whatever you do, if you're going to meet one face to face, eat a few breath mints.

Would you like to learn more about the eccentric ways of moose-loving Granite Staters? Read my book Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire. Outtastatahs (as in out-of-staters)  which features the trials and tribulations of newcomers to this state. (Two out of three New Hampshire residents weren't born here.) Outtastatahs can be purchased at River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth; the Galley Hatch Restaurant gift shop in Hampton; The Water Street Bookstore in Exeter; Gibson's Bookstore in Concord and on-line at barnesandnoble.com. Both paper and Kindle versions can be obtained at amazon.com.