Watch out for moose in Denali!

A couple of years ago on the Kenai we kept track of a moose cow and calf that were hanging around the cabin we were in. There was a bear tracking the moose trying to pick off the calf. Daily we'd see the moose, never the bear, but when we'd look at tracks you could see where the moose had run and then there would be bear tracks nearby, often right on the moose tracks. The cow was playing a deadly game of hide and seek with the bear, staying just out of range, keeping that calf safe, and, I think, using the cabins as a haven of sorts. After about a week the bear moved on, apparently giving up. I admired that cow.

Bear predation is one of the biggest threats to moose calves. Back in the 80's there were multiple bear attacks on humans near the Denali visitor center. Biologists believed that the bears were mistaking humans for moose calves, which were sparse that spring. They closed the area for 2 weeks if I remember right. That area is a moose calving ground.

Moose cow and calf, not appreciating that we were stopped about 100' away


Momma griz with one of her two cubs - not minding that I was stopped about 50' away.


Momma laid down to take a rest while I watched, the cubs ran hither dither. Clearly momma knew I wasn't a threat and the dandelions were good eating. I didn't get out of my car though...

Anytime you see an animal with young it will be unpredictable. It's just behaving normally. It's the tourists that are not!

Many years ago when I was living about 300 miles west of Fairbanks on the Yukon River, I took a summer contract hauling supplies, mail, a person or two from Galena to their mining camp located on the Nowitna River, above the village of Ruby, Alaska. I had a 24 ft flat bottomed plywood boat, with 1/2 on the bottom and 3/8 on the sides, just to keep the weight down and pushed it with a 55 HP Evinrude kicker engine. It would carry a couple of thousand pounds. The mining company would ship food, supplies, mail, etc. out to Galena by air freight to me, then I would load it onto my boat and head up the Yukon River to the mouth of the Nowitna River. All told it was about a 6 or 8 hour run up to the mine operation from Galena loaded and a couple of hours less empty on the way back.

Made the trip weekly that summer, good money to be made. LOL On one of the trips when I came around a bend in the Nowitna River, I hit this foul stench or something rotten. Looked around to figure where I was and planned to stop on the way back out headed home, when my boat was empty. Made it to the mine, off loaded their supplies to them and headed back downstream, by myself. If there was too many supplies for one boat, a friend of mine would come along with his boat to haul half the load.

When I got to the foul smelling place, I tied up the boat, grabbed my rifle and walked back into the willows that lined the river, more like a big creek in most places. Soon I came to a place where the willows were torn up, smashed down and there lay a dead brown bear, big male, one of the biggest I had ever seen. He had been dead for a week give or take. All around, on the ground were moose tracks, which I also found a pair of moose calves so knew the grown moose was their mother. For what I could tell the bear had gone after one or both of the calves and the mother defended them. Her hooves had busted bear ribs, his jaw and had cut his hide like someone had used a knife on him. There was a blood trail leading away from the fight, which I followed for a mile or so to see if the cow moose made it. I found where she and he calves had bedded down for a couple of nights and moved on. So she appeared to have survived the altercation with the grizzly.

It made a believer out of me on the power of a moose and the long reach of those front legs. I got back to Galena and stopped at the AF base, NCO club for a beer, and told some of the airmen about the dead bear. They had me draw out the location on a map and the next day, 4 or 5 of them rented a boat from the base recreation dept and headed up to see the bear. They wanted the claws and the teeth out of Mr bear. They found the bear and got the teeth and claws but did a lot of throwing up in the process. One sick bunch of airmen on the boat ride back the two or three hours to their base at Galena.

Riley Creek has a 'moose problem' every year. There is a large moose population in the area and at this time of year, and earlier, there is also a large bear population. The bear population is up because of the availability of moose calves. For that reason moose cows are even more protective of their calves than usual. People just need to have some respect for the moose, and to realize that there are bears in the area that they are not seeing.

Tomorrow, a year ago, we were waiting to board a bus at the Denali Visitors Center to take us to the 92 mile marker on a day trip. We were a little early and were having a conversation with another couple. Our backs were turned toward the treed area at the bus circle and the other lady all of sudden said "I suggest we move across the road as a momma moose and a calf appeared at the edge of the trees. We did and within moment a park ranger was there making sure everyone stayed away. The ranger said that at times she would come around the center and sometime acted testy. We aren't much for bus trips but it was a great day and the wildlife was great. The bus driver was just so outstanding!

Remember the video of the dummies in Yellowstone trying to get pictures of the bear cubs while mom fretted nearby?? And people wonder why they get hurt..:S

These are WILD animals and mom is simply doing what mom's do, protect their offspring...thanks to the OP though, for the warning....my guess is mom and offspring may soon be relocated...Dennis

Only the park service gets to harass the moose with paintball guns. I wonder why they are using clear paintballs.

"Kelly said wildlife technicians attempted to scare the moose away from the campground, at one point employing the use of clear paintballs to encourage it to leave, but each time it came back soon after."

harold1946 wrote:
Denali is not having a moose problem, its a people problem. More people are injured by moose than bears, just as more are injured by bison in Yellowstone.
There is no fix for stupid. Mess with them and they will make the proper response to correct stupidity.

X2

Although sometimes it is not stupidity that gets a person in trouble. There are exceptions where people inadvertently or unknowingly find themselves much too close to wildlife.