Brian Booth's Tracking Quizzes

Quiz #11 - Answer

  
The answer is MOOSE

In this case it happened to be a bull moose, I know because I saw him silhouetted against the sky at dusk and inspected his tracks at dawn. (There were moose tracks all over the place on the lakeshore; the tracks I chose to photograph were at least a couple days old, as evidenced by the spiderwebs in the tracks, and, I suppose could possibly be from a different moose.)

Even if I had not seen him, I would know the tracks were from moose due to the sheer size. There are 2 toes, which means it is deer family, and the 6" long footprints are much larger than the next-largest member of the deer family, elk. The habitat is also strongly suggestive of moose – the tracks came out of the shallows of the lake, which as can be seen in photo J1, has plentiful aquatic vegetation that moose like to eat in summer.

While I was watching the moose, he was eating the algae-looking stuff seen in Photo J1, and I was surprised to learn that he chomps the stuff very rapidly. Chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp! It was a magical moment, one of the best of my visit to Glacier National Park. Some of the other "best moments" from that trip are slated to become future tracker quizzes.

  

Quiz #11 - Question      ...on to Quiz #12

  

(All photos on this page are Copyright © by Brian Booth unless indicated otherwise)
To send comments, questions or feedback about these quizzes, email Brian Booth

  

Tracking Quizzes

The material on this page is copyright © by the original author/artist/photographer
This website is created, maintained & copyright © by Walter Muma
Please respect this copyright and ask permission before using or saving any of the content
of this page for any purpose

-- These websites may also interest you --

Ontario Wildflowers   Ontario Trees & Shrubs   Ontario Ferns   Ontario Grasses   Ontario Insects
Mumart   World of Mosses   Wild Ontario   Trans-Labrador Hwy   James Bay Road   Rupert River   Moped Trip
Wildwood Survival   Wildwood Tracking   Leatherwood Trail   Tracker Trail   Earth Caretaker   Wildwood Canada

Thank you for visiting!