If the antlers are great, flat plates edged with fingerlike tines, the ungainly brown beast in your binoculars is a bull moose. There are thought to be about 6,000 moose in Greater Yellowstone. Some hypothesize that the big ungulate did not historically live in significant numbers here, but was pushed into the area as man took over its preferred, lower-elevation habitat. Moose eat twigs, pine and fir needles, and tree bark in winter, but what they like is water vegetation and the tender willow shoots that grow alongside rivers and streams. They also like aspen and new, fresh grass.
Long legs make moose good water foragers.
When the big head rises above the surface, it trails water and soggy green water plants. Those long legs also make winter snows less an obstacle for moose than for many other Greater Yellowstone ungulates. In summer, look for moose near water, especially in willow thickets, cottonwood bottoms or plant-clogged ponds. In winter, peruse south-facing hillsides where the snowpack is not so deep or among thick trees, which also keep snowpack down. Moose are not as sedate as they may appear, particularly if they feel cornered.