No muffins — or hay — for moose
• Local biologists report feeding of hay to moose on the Homer Spit
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
HOMER TRIBUNE/Naomi Klouda - This mother moose on Klondike Street may look like she is asking – no doubt in an appealing way – for a handout. However, Fish and Game biologists warn the public that feeding moose comes at the moose’s detriment.
In fact, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Assistant Biologist Thomas McDonough said hay proves fatal for a moose because it plugs the digestive system. That keeps the moose from being able to take in her proper forage of willow and other winter browse. At that point, the moose would starve to death.
McDonough said he received a report of a moose wandering down the Homer Spit last week. It is unusual for a moose to go on the Spit, as there isn’t much to forage on and is out of their range. Occasionally, however, a moose decides to check things out. The report contained the additional information that someone was feeding the stray moose some hay.
“There was a pile of hay there when I arrived,” McDonough said. “If the moose remained out there, there was a good chance it would die, either from eating this novel food or from becoming dependent on humans for food.”
State law deems it illegal to feed a moose. If McDonough had caught whomever had fed the moose hay, the people could have been issued a $310 violation. Not even a muffin, a carrot or an apple is innocent fodder for a moose, because it triggers a dramatic shift in diet that moose are not evolved to adapt to quickly, he added.
“Hay will kill them. They can’t change their diet from winter browse to hay,” he explained. “That would take weeks for the bacteria in the Rumen (part of the four-chambered stomach) to change.”
Depending on the time of year, the bacteria in a moose’s stomach is able to proliferate and digest the food item that is abundant at that time. McDonough further explained that, in the summer, there is a different composition of bacteria than in the winter.
“It is a multi-week process for bacteria to change significantly enough to take in a different food source,” McDonough noted. “There is no novel food available outside of human influence.”
Moose are currently busy munching on birch, ornamental trees that people sometimes plant, alder and grass.
“They will partake in whatever is exposed and available,” he said.
The moose population currently settles in at about 500 animals in sub unit 15C, which extends from Kasilof to Homer’s East End. These moose can range about 50 miles per season, traveling back and forth in search of good winter browse. The fact that the past few winters have been relatively mild makes life easier for the moose. Many have settled in the City of Homer.
“When there isn’t much snow, the food is more accessible. They don’t have the energetic expense of plowing through deep snow,” he said.
And it’s common human winter activity to watch moose, as evidenced in calls to Fish and Game, police and the local newspaper.
People have called in reports of a moose stuck in a fence, in one instance, or worried about very young moose being seen without the protection of a mother. (McDonough said, after three months of nursing, a baby moose can physiologically survive without a mom.)
Concerned moose fans have also called police to report dogs harassing moose. The moose heading down the Spit generated at least five calls. All this may make it seem like the moose population is on the rise, because of the proliferation of encounters and sightings.
However, no definitive moose count can take place until an adequate snow covers the ground. Then, biologists can conduct aerial counts, McDonough said. They look for the contrast of dark moose against a white backdrop that makes a successful count more likely.
In the meantime, an average of 60 moose are killed on roads in the winter months as well in sub-unit 15C. After this winter, biologists will have a better idea of the current numbers in the moose population.
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Posted by Tribune Moderator on Feb 3rd, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Posted by Tribune Moderator on Feb 3rd, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
11 Responses for “No muffins — or hay — for moose”
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I would like to add that in winter, especially March of average years, that moose are at a “break even” point in the energy expended vs energy gained. Any stress such as being chased or injured by roaming dogs could send them over their limit. This is just IMO but I have observed moose just lay down and give up after being stressed for food and then chased to exhaustion.
Yes, thank you, Wes.
People that allow their pets to harass wildlife should be reported to the local authorities. It’s against the law.
Anybody who doesn’t allow their dogs to chase a moose out of their yard is just plain silly. So they can chase a human off the property – but not a moose?? Just how backwards are the fine expatriots from California gonna get??
Sec. 03.55.030 Killing dogs annoying or evincing tendency to bite animals or fowls.
Whenever any dog habitually annoys any wild deer, reindeer, sheep, cattle, horse, or other animal or bird either domestic or wild, or evinces a disposition which makes it likely that it will without provocation bite an animal or fowl, any person may lawfully kill the dog, when at large. The owner or keeper of the dog, if known or reasonably identifiable, shall be notified and given reasonable opportunity to restrain the dog before it is lawful to kill it. Persons authorized to enforce AS 16.05 (Alaska Fish and Game Code) and peace officers may enforce this section.
Prior Codifications: ACLA 1949, § 33-3-93.
i shall ask my dog to perform some requisite inquiries of the moose crossing my yard before allowing him to protect my plants. Sec. 03.55.002 of the common sense code provides for a reasonable adjudication of the ‘wild animal trespass’ violation by 1.shouting at a moose or other animal to ‘scram’ for a short period before instructing a well trained canine to ‘sic em’.
My dog never bit any moose, but he was effective at stopping moose destruction of our vegetation. I tried without success to shoo a destructive moose of the premises one time. Eventually, I dragged the ailing dog out and literally held him up so the moose could see. The dog’s protest at being picked up caught the moose’s attention, and when she saw that I was holding a big dog, she skedaddled.
I miss my dead dog now whenever a moose comes around to dine on our trees. A yapping dog seems like one of the most moose-friendly anti-moose methods people use.
I thought I was very specific in saying “roaming dogs” which are quite different than dogs that stay in your yard.
It’s possible that we should be encouraging dogs to ‘lightly’ chase moose- much as a personal trainer might encourage you towards running a bit. If we can impress upon our dogs that moose will absorb only just so much activity at once – perhaps all of us can benefit from the lessons. Protect the yard, give the dog a noble purpose – and just maybe get our local moose into better cardiovascular condition.
I can’t believe you dragged your dying dog out of it’s death bed to ‘shoo’ a moose away from your premises, and then held it up so that it would cry out in pain to scare off a moose. And now, this is the only reason you miss your ‘dead dog.’ Your are either very young or just heartless, or both. Either way, you’re not very smart as to share that story. You sounded somewhat intelligent in the past, but II will not look at your blog in the same way, again.
I don’t know that I usually have the honor of even making people think for a while that I’m somewhat intelligent
. People usually figure me out pretty quick 
.
You may wish to consider some of the presuppositions that you brought to this discussion.
1. You assumed that my dog was dying. He wasn’t. He was ailing. This was about a year before his death.
2. You assumed that my dog’s protest at being held up was in pain. Not true. He just hated being picked up. Since he couldn’t walk up the porch stairs anymore though, I had to carry him up every time I let him out, so I was quite talented at carrying him in a pain free manner, though he always protested. The dog didn’t seem to figure out the effort I was putting into his well-being.
3. You assume this is the ONLY reason I miss my dog – quite a statement, and not true.
Since your presuppositions are faulty, your case unravels. Although like I alluded to, you may find some people to second your conclusion concerning my brain capacity. I’m studying General Relativity as a hobby. That makes some people think I’m off my rocker.
I can’t stand groups like PETA’s radical “animals = people (or better)” messages, but I raise many animals, and not even a radical can say I mistreat them (except when it comes time to slaughter the broilers).
You question my intelligence in sharing the story. I was simply illustrating how a dog CAN sometimes be a very useful and harmless method of discouraging moose destruction of our vegetation. My dog was good at this even before his health went over the cliff. Sorry you didn’t catch the humorous side of the story. Maybe you will now.
Please consider your presuppositions.
As far as the article goes, I used to read that book about feeding muffins to moose to my younger siblings. Maybe it’ll get banned.
Please check out my web site http://www.seeingmoosedogs.com where we are developing the perfect dog to alert its master as to when a moose has trespassed upon their land. It beats dragging an ailing dog out to the moose and holding it up (as some people are not that strong), or having your dog shot by police whilst doing its job. The dog is trained to politely engage the moose head on or to sneak up upon the moose from behind and bite its ankles, and quickly negotiate an escape so as not to be kicked in the head. We are fine tuning this approach and have lost only about a dozen dogs so far. (Of course, we’ve had to use long horn steers instead of moose). Fortunately, the animal shelters are full of dogs needing exercise and hungry enough to chase such a large animal. We may have a side business that helps reduce overcrowding at the shelters. We are looking into it.