Talk:Moose

message: The writing in this section is clumsy and unscientific, but much worse it is dangerous. The author does not understand the use of basic punctuation like commas and semicolons, and it is full of misinformed blanket statements like "more aggressive individuals are ALWAYS darker in color" misconceptions that are not only unscientific and inaccurate, but dangerous to the public. The whole paragraph about aggression needs re-written or deleted. "they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences." No, not with "minor" consequences. Bull moose in rut are extraordinarily aggressive and dangerous, even compared to large predators. 24.20.168.19 (talk) 04:17, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: That's according to the sources. The source for coloring, for example, comes from the book Deer of the World : Their Evolution, Behaviour, and Ecology, by Dr. Valerius Geist. It's a very in depth and exhaustive book by a world-renowned expert on the subject. Not only does he say that the more aggressive individuals are darker in color, but that they are darkest in those areas facing their opponents during the rut, serving as sort of a visual warning to other ungulates that they're not likely to back down. Your other observation is also well-documented and found in the sources. Moose are very dangerous, I agree fully. The most dangerous animal in Alaska, in fact, and I know that from personal experience. (I've been charged, chased, cornered, and on one occasion even had to bail off a cliff and slide down the ice on my butt.) But in terms of raw numbers, there are a lot of moose attacks yet they are rarely fatal or result in serious injury by comparison. They usually don't go looking for a fight unless someone really pisses it off, but they don't usually back down or run away if they feel threatened. That said, if you have better sources and would like to improve section you are most welcome to give it a shot. Zaereth (talk) 04:45, 28 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aggression section needs serious work 

message: The article should have the IPA transcription for the word "moose" (probably /ˈmus/ or something) because it's a standard thing in Wikipedia. The Old Macintosh (talk) 12:01, 13 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: It is a fairly standard thing, but I personally don't find it useful as most readers don't know how to interpret IPA. Beeblebrox (talk) 16:25, 13 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  IPA transcription should be added 

message: Just saw this . Rabies has been detected in an Alaskan moose for the first time, apparently there have been a few cases elsewhere as well. Beeblebrox (talk) 16:26, 13 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rabies 

message: The picture next to "domestication" is labelled "moose kept as pack animals", whereas the picture definitely shows moose being used as draught animals. 
In English as I know it (UK) a pack animal is carrying a load, while a draught animal is pulling one, and it is actually incorrect to exchange the two words.  Of course, it is perfectly possible that the animals were kept as pack animals and only incidentally trained to pull sledges so they could do so on rare occasions - working animals are sometimes trained for both - but it is still not the most helpful of picture captions!  (A screen reader reading a caption should give an accurate impression of what the picture shows, and this one doesn't).
Unless this is a result of regional variations in English usage, could I suggest it be changed to "Moose trained as draught animals" or some similar phrase?  :-) FloweringOctopus (talk) 09:01, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Draught, not pack, animals shown in picture? 

message: Aren’t moose supposed to live in the Rocky Mountains? 2601:6C1:582:7610:45D0:27A5:9C01:E0C1 (talk) 14:11, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Doubtful, even in the Canadian Rockies. Moose aren't mountain climbers. Zaereth (talk) 18:16, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

text: Yeah, they may live in the Rocky Mountain region but they don't seem to be interested on going up on actual mountains. I mean, why would you when you're huge and difficult to kill and can find food at lower elevations? Like most beings, moose don't like to work any harder than they have to. Beeblebrox (talk) 02:20, 8 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Moose like low ridges in the summer time when there is wind and its hot. It's in the article and I've seen it happen. sbelknap (talk) 19:47, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

text: " In late winter, moose prefer river valleys with deciduous forest cover or alpine terrain above the tree line" sbelknap (talk) 20:22, 22 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fauna of the Rocky Mountains 

message: Moose have now been found as low as New Mexico and on the Diné (Navajo) reservation. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has documented this extensively over the past 2 years. 2601:8C0:C201:EE40:5875:5CA2:9E92:8692 (talk) 00:37, 18 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok, then, as a wild guess, I'm assuming you think this should be added to the article? For that, all we need is that documentation. Could you please provide it? Zaereth (talk) 00:42, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. UtherSRG (talk) 13:11, 18 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 18 October 2023 

message: On looking through the available information on the web it appears that there is no reliable method of determining if tracks by a moose are male or female by noting the dew claw marks. Whilst it would be true that the softer the ground and/or the heavier the moose the more likely the dew claws will leave an imprint, there is no way to know how soft the ground and how much weight would be required, and it certainly doesn't distinguish equal sized males and females. There are no published tests to demonstrate the truth of the statement claimed, and there are no authoritative expert opinions to give it full credit. I am removing the claim on the basis of it likely being an unproven myth. Jameel the Saluki (talk) 13:34, 10 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Footprints and dewclaws 

message: Pretty sure this is a misconception based on a Tumblr post, is there a real citation for this? 2A00:1028:8384:A4CA:313A:4D94:5E28:E795 (talk) 07:08, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Sure. Lots. Have you checked the source in the article? There also the book Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals which on page 930 says "Killer whales opportunistically intercept individual deer and moose as they swim between coastal islands." Plus many other books. There is also https://environmentalaska.us/orcas.html , https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/killer-whale/diet/ , https://orcanation.org/the-life-of-orcas-biology-and-ecology/ , to name a few. I don't think anyone has ever caught a moose kill on camera, as it's fairly rare, but many moose carcasses have been found in the ocean with killer whale bites that were easily distinguished from sharks or other marine predators. Killer whales are also known to eat many other deer species, brown bears, polar bears, and they even set traps for seagulls. Zaereth (talk) 08:23, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orca Predation 

message: There's an audio file on the page that is entitled "Moose mate".  Judging by the sounds on that file, I suspect that the file ought to be indicated as "Moose mating call", or whatever it's supposed to be. Tmangray (talk) 03:39, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moose mate?