A Moose in the Desert

For those of you who don’t know, moose are typically forest and wetland creatures. All of the moose I’ve seen have at least come close to this convention. Sure, I saw a moose near a tarmac at an airport in Anchorage. Sure, I saw another galloping across a Costco parking lot, again, in Anchorage. Those moose however, were near good habitat that had been infringed upon by human development.

The bad photo of the moose I have here however, is a different story. This moose was photographed in the White Water Desert of Western Colorado. I can only imagine this moose wandered down from the Grand Mesa, the nearest moose habitat I know of, a place where moose were introduced by Colorado Parks & Wildlife in 2005. I say introduced because although it’s possible moose lived there historically, there’s no evidence. It seems to be good moose habitat though and they’re flourishing, even wandering into the desert it seems.

Moose are the largest species in the deer family but the only member of their genus. If you’ve never seen one in the wild, they are spectacular but dangerous and unpredictable. I remember vividly waking up in a tent in Rocky Mountain National Park and finding a moose exploring a fire pit in the campground.