The biggest deer
A bull moose stands taller than a horse, with antlers that can span nearly two metres.
Northern forest
Moose
Alces alces
A huge, dark, long-legged deer with a drooping nose. The male has wide, flat antlers.
- Size
- Up to 2m at the shoulder: the biggest deer
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Northern forests of North America, Europe and Asia
Strides after you on stilt-like legs. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Moose
Good to know
Six things about the moose
New antlers every year
The antlers drop off each winter and grow back in a few months, among the fastest-growing bone there is.
A diving deer
Moose wade into lakes and dive several metres down to eat water plants.
A nose that closes
It can shut its nostrils under water, like a seal.
Twig eater
Moose comes from a Native American word meaning twig eater. In Europe the same animal is called an elk.
The bell
The flap of skin under its chin is called a bell. Nobody is quite sure what it is for.
The real thing
Photos of the moose
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look in marshy clearings and at the edges of lakes at dawn. A moose in the water, with only its head and back showing, is easy to miss.
How to help
Moose are struck by cars on forest roads. Wildlife bridges and tunnels, and slower driving at dusk, save many.
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