Moose

A northern forest giant

Alces alces is called moose in North America and elk in much of Europe and Asia. The eastern, or taiga, moose is the form found in Maine.

Long legs, broad hooves, a heavy body, and a flexible upper lip equip moose to move through deep snow, browse woody plants, and feed in shallow water. Adults are imposing but often quiet and difficult to detect among dense trees.

Physical description and identification

During the fall season, an adult cow may have a dressed weight around 600 pounds, while an adult bull may average around 800 pounds. Large bulls can exceed 1,000 pounds dressed. A prime bull’s front hoof may be about five inches wide; cow and calf tracks are smaller.

Color and body structure provide clues when antlers are absent. Cows generally show a brown face and dark body, while bulls tend to have a darker face. Both sexes have a hanging flap of skin beneath the throat called a bell. The cow’s bell often resembles a tuft of hair; a mature bull’s is typically larger and rounder.

Only bulls normally grow antlers. Calves may show small buds by early fall, yearlings may carry spikes or small forks, and broad palms usually develop as bulls mature. Antlers reach their greatest development in prime-aged adults and decline in older animals. Moose shed them before winter and begin growing a new set in spring.

Natural history

Habitat

Bulls and cows may select somewhat different summer habitat. Bulls often occupy higher mixed and hardwood stands where shade offers cooler temperatures, even when forage is less concentrated. Cows raising calves commonly use lower, regenerating stands near softwoods, where food can be gathered efficiently.

Shallow waterways containing pondweed, water lilies, and other aquatic plants are attractive feeding areas. In winter, moose often use higher ground with accessible hardwood browse. Mature softwoods provide important shelter when snow becomes deep.

Food habits

Moose are browsers. They eat leaves and twigs from willow, aspen, birch, maple, pin cherry, and mountain ash throughout the year. Balsam fir becomes important when deciduous leaves are absent, although it does not provide a complete winter diet by itself.

Fire, windthrow, insects, and forest cutting can stimulate young growth that produces abundant browse. Aquatic plants are valuable because they contain more sodium than most woody vegetation. Natural salt licks are uncommon in Maine, so roadside salt runoff can attract moose—including near Katahdin Iron Works—and increase collision risk.

Reproduction

The breeding season begins in late September and extends into early October. Cows may first reproduce at age two, and most have done so by age three. They typically give birth in May to one or two calves. Nutrition influences when a cow first breeds and whether she bears twins.

Calves remain with their mother for about a year and are driven away shortly before the next birth. Bulls can breed as yearlings, but most do not reproduce until they are large enough to compete with older bulls.

Survival, parasites, and longevity

Moose mortality can result from hunting, vehicle collisions, accidents, predation, disease, starvation, and old age. Adult predation is limited because few Maine predators can kill a healthy adult, although black bears may prey on calves.

Brainworm, winter ticks, and lungworm affect moose in Maine. Brainworm infection is often fatal, while the effects of ticks and lungworm vary with the animal’s condition and the severity of infestation. Sarcoptic mange causes itching, skin crusting, and inflammation and can spread through direct contact.

Average life expectancy has historically been estimated at approximately eight years for cows and seven for bulls. Some moose reach their late teens, while survival beyond twenty is rare.

Management history in Maine

Moose were abundant before European settlement and were an important source of food and materials for Indigenous communities. Firearms, expanding settlement, unrestricted harvest, changing forests, and disease pressures contributed to a long decline. By the early twentieth century, Maine’s moose population had been estimated at roughly 2,000.

Legal protection and recovering forest habitat later allowed numbers to increase. Exact statewide estimates change as survey methods, habitat, parasites, weather, and management conditions change, so time-sensitive totals are best treated as dated estimates rather than permanent facts.

Changes in hunting seasons

Before 1830, Maine had no statewide restrictions on moose harvest. The first open season established that year lasted two months. Season length varied over subsequent decades, and hunting was prohibited from 1875 through 1879. A one-bull bag limit appeared in 1889.

The statewide season closed in 1915, briefly reopened in 1919, and alternated between closures and short seasons through 1935. It then remained closed from 1936 until 1980. Legislation passed in 1979 authorized up to 700 permits for Maine residents in 1980, with a six-day season in a defined northern area.

A permit lottery has been used since the modern season began. Regulations, permit numbers, season dates, and management zones can change, so readers should consult current official rules before planning any hunting activity.