Comments on: Where have all the moose gone?

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:41:25 +0000

Jason,
I fully agree with your observations. I just returned from 5 days in GTNP where we go every August or September. We saw moose in a few of the usual places but not in others. My favorite has been seeing young bulls cross Cottonwood Creek while I was fishing or the big majestic bulls in Oxbow while kayaking.
This year we saw one lone cow at the ponds next to the Wilson road where we typically see a couple of cows and a calf or two. Despite trying several times, we never did spot Jesus or John Lennon near the Moose WY bridge although we heard they are still there. I hiked up to see the two bulls above Jenny Lake, at the top of the horse trail near Inspiration Point. We did not explore the ponds above Lupine Meadows this year but will next time.
The big surprise though has been Oxbow. From 2000 to 2008 we always saw several either on the Cattlemen’s road, in the water grazing or near the main turnout. The last 2 years though we have not see any at Oxbow, but hear they have moved up Signal Mountain. I cannot help but wonder if the presence of the 2 sow grizzlies (known as #399 and #610) and the cubs have had anything to do with the moose leaving the Oxbow area. Thanks for the great work.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:15:15 +0000

In reply to Bill.

Bill,

Thanks for your insight! It is a hot issue for sure. The official estimate of the population decline in the northern Jackson Hole herd is 75% since the mid 90’s. We are having more Grizzly sightings this year than moose. A few years ago we almost never saw grizzlies in Teton Park – today it is a daily occurrence. On top of that we personally know of two moose calves predated by grizzlies – that’s the ones we have seen from the road. Don’t think that we don’t like bears though – they are my favorite animals to watch and photograph! Are you guys here this year?

Jason

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:09:38 +0000

In reply to Val Walker.

Val – your point is well taken but remember the language barrier and use of different nomenclature in that time period. Moose are in fact the largest member of the dear family so were sometimes referred to as a type of deer. Even today our European guests sometimes confuse Elk and Moose as an Elk in Europe is what we call a moose. Thanks for the insight.

Jason

By: Val Walker

Val Walker — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:57:48 +0000

I can’t imagine any person who would truly believe that sightings of Moose by the Lewis and Clark party were probably mule deer instead. Did they see any wolves? Perhaps they what they thought were wolves were in reality foxes. Did they see any Hare? If so, perhaps it they actually saw were deer mice instead. Please, those people were experienced outdoorsmen and would not mistake a deer for a moose.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:48:09 +0000

Jason, I don’t debate at all the documented decline in the moose population throughout the Jackson Hole area. But last summer my wife and I spent three months as campground hosts at Lizard Creek campground in GTNP and got lot of close up and personal time observing the wildlife. We saw moose all over the park and outside the park throughout the summer. We saw them at the usual locations (Wilson Rd, the willows along the Gros Ventre River, the bridge at the Moose entrance to the park. But we also saw one in Yellowstone, many different ones around the oxbow, along the Snake toward Alpine, in Moran, Dubois, on the way to Dubois, Colter Bay, Grassy Lake Rd, Pacific Creek…in general, pretty much everywhere we went we saw moose, and not the same ones over and over. Maybe we were just lucky, but we definitely saw them wherever we went and at the most unexpected times. We saw calves, cows, cows with calves, old mature bulls, young bulls, little bulls with little bumps on their heads, yearling cows. Sometimes three at a time, but usually one at a time or two if it was a cow and calf. So, I don’t doubt the documented decline, but they are still out there. It does seem the predators are having an effect on their population and especially on the elk population. We saw lots of grizzlies in the Lizard Creek area and all around GTNP, and talked to rangers about all the wolves and their impact on elk and young moose. We also noticed and agree with what you point out in your blog – that an important impact on the elk and moose activity is the interruption of their grazing patterns by predators. We saw plenty of that, too.