A Different Perspective

My new best friend, Ms. Cow Moose, is causing quite a stir on the x-c ski trails. I realized yesterday's photo may not have represented the true prolific nature of her scat, so I included today's image for perspective. The glove belongs to the resident biologist, who tells me the cow moose has to eat between 40 and 60 pounds of browse a day in order to make it through the winter. Browse is food animals eat when they 'browse' around looking for something to eat, sort of like me after dinner. Browse for meese consists of twigs and buds of hardwood trees like maples, cherry and aspen. They chew off the ends of the branches they can reach, so you frequently see a browse line, which looks like someone trimmed the trees to all look alike. They eat tree bark when they are really desperate. And, this is very weird, they have no upper front incisor teeth, they bite up with their bottom teeth and upper gum. Unlike deer, moose seek higher ground in the winter, which is why we are seeing her where we are. That's my science lesson for the day!