Photo by Robert Kasuboski
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Photo by Robert Kasuboski |
By Julie St. Louis
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Where have all the moose gone? That seems to be the question on the minds of travelers along Turnagain Arm and into Portage Valley this winter.
The moose (Alces alces) is the world’s largest member of the deer family. As all things are bigger in the Last Frontier, the Alaskan variety (Alces alces gigas) is the largest of all the moose. Often by this time of year there have been multiple sightings of the big deer, as well as near-miss stories by travelers between Anchorage and Portage.
At this point, I know of only one story—“Falling Moose Nearly Takes out Trooper”—that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News on Feb. 12, and later in MSNBC’s online news of the weird. Apparently, it is thought that this poor moose lost its footing on an icy cliff during a high wind moment. For certain though, a moose falling from a cliff along the highway is a rare sighting, and does not count toward the expected scenic views of moose on wooded trails near the road, or the lumbering moose that causes you to slow your car to wait for it to cross, or to head back into the woods.
I have seen evidence of moose during my daily walks with my dogs. We tend to stroll on the Alyeska Highway path at all different hours, even late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. After several months without a glimpse we nearly walked right into one of the 1,000-plus pound animals responsible for all the nuggets that my dogs want to nibble on.
According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game, moose make seasonal movements from a few miles to up to 60 miles for calving, rutting, or wintering areas. During winter, moose consume large quantities of willow, birch and aspen twigs. They are also known to create browse lines of six to eight feet above the ground by clipping the terminal shoots of preferred trees.
So, is there something different about this winter than past that has moose altering their wandering and browsing? Or, is it just our human imaginations that something is different this year?
Rick Sinnott, ADF&G wildlife biologist and area “moose whisperer,” says, “last winter highway travelers may have seen more moose because of the larger overall snowfall compared to this winter.” When the snowfall is high moose have more trouble moving their heavy bodies through deep snow, and instead will migrate toward easier routes—roadways, or plowed paths—to munch on woody vegetation. “When the snow is less than ten feet deep moose will disperse throughout the valley and are less likely to be seen,” said Sinnott.
Interestingly, an ADF&G survey of Girdwood, about 10 years ago, located only five moose. “We just don’t see a lot of moose in the Glacier Creek area,” said Sinnott.
“Portage and Girdwood Valleys are strange places,” he said. “They naturally have more deep snow in the winter than the Anchorage bowl, and because of poor weather conditions in those areas when we fly our aerial surveys; we haven’t been able to obtain consistent estimates of the moose population there.”
ADF&G conduct population surveys during the month of November, and have not been able to fly over the Portage, Twenty Mile, and Placer Valleys to count moose for many years. The last reliable data showed moose at a high of about 300 throughout the three valleys, in the late 80s and early 90s, during a period of mild winters. Just a few years later though, after a couple of harsh winters, the moose population dropped by more than half and has stayed at around 100 animals ever since. According to Sinnott, “that’s about normal for these areas.”
During the winter, moose will alternate between browsing and munching the tree-line and lying down to digest and conserve energy. In snowier winters residents have found moose in their backyards that have died from starvation. Late winter is typically the time of die-off, when moose find it increasingly hard to find food. Sinnott describes this winter as “not too rough,” and adds, “most young moose I’ve seen have good weight and are even still a little plump.”
If you do find what appears to be a sick or dead moose call ADF&G’s Wildlife Alert line at 907-267-2257. If the cause of death is starvation the carcass is often donated to area trappers to use as bait. And, as most Alaskans know, the meat from moose that have been killed by motorists is donated to charity for needy families or to local foodbanks.
Well, there you have it—this is a normal winter and the moose are doing just fine. But you should still keep a watchful eye and give any moose that you encounter while walking or driving a wide berth. They are still bigger than you, and therefore, have the right of way out there.