MAINE MOOSE STATISTICS

Excerpted from Maine Moose Watcher's Guide by Bill Silliker Jr.

Birth: Born in late May to early June. Mature moose cows can give birth each year.

Size at Birth: Up to 3 feet at the shoulders; 3 feet long.

Weight at Birth: 20 to 35 pounds.

Weight Gain: 1 to 2 pounds daily the first month; 3 to 5 pounds daily the next several months.

First Fall: A well fed calf could weigh 400 pounds by October.

Coat Colors: Calves have red-brown coats; mature animals have dark brown, nearly black coats with lighter legs.

Molt: Moose shed their winter coats beginning in May and into late June; they look ragged during the molting period.

Teeth: Moose are born with working "baby" milk incisor teeth; mature moose have 32 teeth, including molars.

Dewlap: Also called the bell, its the funny looking fleshy thing hanging under a moose's chin; some theorize it helps to drain water off of their face; God alone knows what it's really for.

Full Height: Generally reached at 2 years.

Height: Mature bulls typically stand as tall as seven feet at the shoulders with legs as long as 40 inches or more.

Full Weight: Generally reached by 5 years of age.

Weight Range: Mature bulls typically weigh 1000 to 1200 pounds, can weigh 1400 pounds or more on the hoof; cows typically weigh 700 to 900 pounds.

Length: Mature moose may be ten feet from nose tip to tail.

Tracks: Two toed; up to 6 inches long, 4 inches wide; moose have four toes, but the dew claws rarely show in tracks.

Appetite: Mature moose will chow some 40 to 50 pounds a day.

Hearing: Excellent; they'll hear you coming a long ways off.

Sense of Smell: Excellent; if the wind is with them, they'll know you're there, no matter how clean you think you are.

Sight: Poor, if you freeze and blend with the background, they'll likely not see you at all.

Longevity: 20 years or more.

Antlers: Grown yearly by males, beginning their first year; growth begins in early spring; antlers are shed each winter.

Antler Size: Across rack spread may be 60 or more inches; a mature bull's rack may reach over ten feet off the ground.

Record Racks: A Maine moose rack from 1900 measured 71 5/8 inches across; a spread of 69 1/2 inches was unofficially measured at a Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife hunter's check station in the 1980's.

Antler Weight: A large rack may weigh over 60 pounds.

Land Speed: Moose have been clocked at 35 miles per hour.

Maine Moose Population: Perhaps as many as 25,000 are estimated in 1993; most inhabit the northern half of the state.

Maine Moose Hunt: Two one week moose hunts are carefully managed and monitored by the MDIF&W each fall.

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