With relatively poor eyesight, the moose relies on her hearing and sense of smell to lead her and her calves safely across the Clearwater River Valley. Cows are highly protective of their new young for their first year; she will stay with her twins until she calves again next spring to ensure their protection throughout the summer, fall, and winter from predators including wolves and bears.
When seen walking, moose often seem like relatively slow and almost stiff creatures, but when they break into a sprint to evade predators or passing vehicles they become well-coordinated, powerful ungulates. With massively muscled shoulders powering their four hooves to pound the ground in perfect rhythm, their race appears almost effortless; full-grown moose can run 56 km per hour, reach up to 2.0 metres in height at the top of their shoulder, and weigh 680 kg.
As one could imagine, to sustain such a physique moose must find plenty of nourishment. In the summer moose eat 25 to 30 kg of leaves, upland plants and water plants each day. An abundant food supply does more than cure their hunger pains; plentiful resources can improve breeding success. Approximately 90% of rutting cows become pregnant and up to 30% bear twins.
Calves are helpless, ungainly, and tiny at birth weighing around 6 kg each in cases of twins and between 11 and 16 kg in single births. While cows keep their young in seclusion in their first few days for their protection, they need to move from the uplands to find sustenance in the spring; calves gain 0.5 kg per day in the first month and by late summer more than 2 kg per day.
Imagine how it would feel to come down that mountain next spring and find all of the trees gone and the swamp filled in. Moose may be wary of predators, but the devastation of habitat loss is something they cannot prepare for.
In the Clearwater River Valley sits 28 acres of Ancient Swamp and Wildlife Corridor. This land, while currently privately owned, is traversed by moose twice each year in order to get safely between their summer and winter ranges. The images below, captured by TLC’s wildlife cameras just a few weeks after the 2019 session of the Deertrails Naturalist Program in the Clearwater River Valley, show a young moose family crossing the corridor.
TLC’s Deertrails Naturalist Program was launched in May to facilitate the transfer of naturalist knowledge, both scientific and traditional. Participants explored a range of habitats from following deer trails to experiencing spring bird migration. Students learned from seasoned naturalists and teachers Lyn Baldwin, Trevor Goward, Briony Penn, Nancy Flood, Cathie Hickson, and Andy MacKinnon, developing a wide array of skills needed to steward local natural places, educate the public and new naturalists, engage in research, and inform conservation efforts.
Providing educational opportunities for up-and-coming naturalists at sites like the Clearwater Ancient Swamp and Wildlife Corridor benefits both the students and our organization; students learn about natural systems while developing a greater appreciation for the work that land trusts accomplish with support from donors like you.
As a way to give back and build their skills, students joined TLC staff and experts in installing the wildlife camera along a popular migratory route. We had wondered if we were too late for the migratory mammals’ spring traverse. Given the quantity of moose droppings along the path we were uncertain that we would catch a glimpse of any others this spring, but low and behold, just a few weeks later we received the most stunning wildlife shots including two young calves following their mother through the corridor.
The wetlands in the Clearwater River Valley, including those found on the Ancient Swamp and Wildlife Corridor property, are havens for these ungulates. While moose can tolerate cold, they suffer in the heat. Thankfully, they can cool off in water for several hours each day; the ICH zone is one of the wettest in the interior of the province. Of all North American deer, only the caribou is a stronger swimmer. The largest members of the deer family – which includes elk, white-tailed deer (which we recently saw bounding across TLC’s Fort Shepherd Conservancy Area), mule deer and caribou – moose can dive more than 5 metres for food on a lake bottom. Very young calves may rest their muzzles on the cow’s back for support, but they are powerful swimmers within days of birth.
Come autumn, breeding or rutting season begins again. Throughout their eight month winter gestation, large adult moose will eat 15 to 20 kgs each day. Winter is a time of hunger for moose – they restrict food intake and activity to conserve energy, stripping the bark from trees including poplars like the cottonwoods and aspens found in the Clearwater River Valley.
According to Lichenologist, author and TLC volunteer warden Trevor Goward, this property has high conservation value “first because it contains a large expanse of conifer-dominated wetlands of a type very rare locally; and second owing to the presence of a large patch of old swamp forest which is likely the most ancient low-elevation forested ecosystem in southern Wells Gray Park and its vicinity.”
Last year TLC achieved its goal in protecting 38 acres of wetland and wildlife corridor the Clearwater River Valley. TLC had previously acquired 75 acres of adjacent lands in 2012 through a combination of direct purchase and the receipt of a donation through the federal Ecological Gifts Program. If successful, the Ancient Swamp and Wildlife Corridor acquisition campaign will provide protection to a further 28 acres adjacent to the south of TLC’s holdings.
Currently undeveloped, TLC plans to protect the property as a wildlife refuge and site for naturalist education. To date we have raised $9,619 toward the purchase, however, should we fall short of our $99,000 goal this year, the Ancient Swamp and Wildlife Corridor will be at risk of devastation.
How large of a contribution to conservation do you want to make? Your gift today will make a difference for migratory mammals like the moose and her young calves. Your financial support is essential to ensure connectivity and fight habitat fragmentation.
In order to survive, moose must lead their young across the peninsula of privately owned land between the southern lobes of Wells Gray Provincial Park. Thank you for supporting this worthy cause.
With gratitude,
Cathy Armstrong
Executive Director
