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Moose: Now Thriving in the Colorado Rockies

© B. J. Barton

I saw a moose this week when I was up near Trapp Lake. I think it might be the same cow that I saw at this spot with a calf a couple of years ago. At that time I had pulled off the dirt road to take photos of the mountains. I heard crashing in the forest at the edge of the clearing, and turned to see this moose trotting into the open. She was not too far from me, maybe 50 yards, and we looked each other over. I was calculating this distance and assuring myself that the van door was open and I wasn't far from it. I'm not sure what she was calculating. It may have been that this small, older woman wasn't much of a threat, because she turned back to the trees and somehow signaled for her calf to follow her into the open. Then they proceeded to browse on the willows while I gained enough confidence to take a few pictures. I stayed quiet and near the van, for moose are notoriously unpredictable, especially females with a calf.

The cow browsed her way across the clearing while the calf ran around and kicked up its heels in a classic display of innocent, joyful energy. I had to get back in the van to reload my camera and then out again, but that didn't phase her. At one point both she and the calf stood on the other side of the nearest willows and nibbled the tops while they observed me. Finally, she just wandered off across the dirt road and into the trees on the other side, leaving the calf to discover it was alone, whereupon, it went racing after her.

Generally adapted to northern climates, moose (Alces alces) probably were never natives in Colorado, although a few sometimes wandered down from Utah and Wyoming. In 1978, the Colorado Division of Wildlife introduced four bulls, eight cows, and a calf along the Illinois River in North Park. Later releases in that area and just up the mountains in the Cameron Pass area were very successful. By 1990, about 250 moose roamed North Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and the upper Cache la Poudre River country.

Moose are truly impressive animals. A bull may stand more than six feet at the shoulder and weigh more than 1000 pounds. An adult cow may weigh 600-800 pounds. The antlers of a bull can be five feet across and weigh 80 pounds. In summer they have a dark brown coat (hard to see in the forest shadows), but it turns grayer in winter.

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