March 3, 2010
Why the long face?
This winter has been undoubtedly mild, lots of sun baking out the south facing slopes with minimal snowfall has made this winter a bit easier on our furred friends of the animal world. Gazing from town, you can see a fair amount of brown on the buttes. This signals “snow free travel” and “readily available sun cured grasses and forbs” to our local ungulate populations. While travel has been easier this winter for mule deer on their desired sunny snow free south facing slopes, I wonder if life is ever easy for moose. I know it is anthropocentric to see the long face and ask, ‘why the long face buddy?’, but difficult not to when I see these solitary members of the Alces alces variety, plodding along in cold river drainages, nipping at available willows, and generally looking glum (from a round faced human perspective).

On an evening ski near Teton Pass I was amazed to see deep wallowing moose tracks everywhere on the north facing slope as I skinned to the top of the ridge. My skin track zigzagged up the slope, and I continued to cross these deep moose tracks that had churned through the powder. Stopping, I noticed this moose had apparently expended a lot of energy to nip at some snowbush ceanothus (Ceanothus velutinus). The narrow river bottom below this ridge was full of willow. Why did this swamp donkey venture all the way up here, just to nip at this green spiny leafed shrub poking out of the snow? I know moose (and really all ungulates) have a keen sense of smell and use it to detect the nutritional properties of the plants they eat; carefully nipping one stem over the next with their loose lips with an apparently discerning palette. Clearly there was something about that particular patch of snowbush that made the moose’s journey worthwhile. While it seemed like a waste of energy to me, I know every winter footstep is calculated for these heavy beasts as they somehow calculate their calorie to energy expenditure ratio. Heading up hill on a winter evening can be a warmer option, than staying down in the river bottom where the cold air settles. Moose will shelter themselves under conifer trees on the slopes. Their high withers allow for high stepping action in their legs and their toes spread out, giving them a snowshoe like advantage in the deep snow. Perhaps this north facing powder slope was actually easier to travel on than the heavier more wind affected snow on the other aspects. As I made it to the top of the ridge and pointed my skis downhill in the fading light, I hoped Mr. Long Face was nestled in up high on the slope, digesting a belly full of snowbush, lest I come face to face with him on the fast ski track out along the river bottom in the fading light of the day.  - Adonia Ripple