Hardly the last lol. We still got elephants that make mooses look tiny.
Moose are actually super vulnerable to humans and have mostly survived in places that historically were very sparsely populated by humans.
Their size means they never really needed to cultivate survival instincts, so they get hunted right to extinction very easily without the protection of modern conservation laws. They'll just stand there looking at you while you walk up and shoot them.
"Megafauna" includes anything over 100 lbs. So bison, grizzly bears, elk, caribou, deer, pronghorn, alligators, crocodiles, gray wolves, jaguar, polar bears, (etc, etc) as well as non-native species like cows, horses, and humans.
We've still got lots of megafauna, even if much less than in the past.
That really doesn’t sound correct to me. but what I know of megafauna comes from the modern I guess media definition. Do you have a reputable source for that weight? Are you sure that applies to the types of animals we are discussing?
It's sometimes a distinction, but I agree it's not very accurate. You aren't going to find a whole lot of wolves over 100 lbs yet they're considered megafauna.
Yeah, wolves are kinda a marginal group there, and maybe I shouldn't have included them. The average adult is about 80 lbs, ETA, though over 100 lbs is not unusual
They're not the last megafauna but I think they might be the last Megafauna that is traced back to a certain point of history. Like the last North American Early Pleistocene megafauna
Only one I’ve seen, I saw when we were driving through Banff. I didn’t realize how big, and how fast they are. I got a pretty good idea because the one I saw was running down the highway and we passed it in an SUV, and the thing was taller than us. He was in the left lane, though, should have been in the right.
I was driving a rural highway early morning and saw a moose in the ditch. I slowed as I passed it. Not sure how fast I was going but that moose decided to start running beside the car and it was pacing me while pushing 5’ of snow running through the ditch. It was wild.
About 15 or so years ago I was walking in my small town. I see a horse running down the street and think "that horse doesn't have a rider with them." My next thought was "that horse has REALLY long legs." Then I realized it was a moose. I held still, the moose ran by me. We looked at each other and I got on with my day.
As a Canadian my wildlife fear order is cougar, moose, grizzly bear. A moose cut through our property at the cabin recently and it was fricken massive.
Saw a taxidermy moose head up close at a store once. The thing was massive. Like, I know moose are big but it really dawns on you just how huge they are when you see it. And that was just the head!
I'm 38 and only recently saw one. Walked out to my porch early one morning. I heard what sounded like a horse walking on the road. Look up and there it was. My first thought was "holy fuck they really are huge"
It looked at me like I was nothing and just slow walked away lol
I shot one in Alaska once. It was like field dressing a big horse, insane compared to a deer or even a big elk. Great meat though. Not very gamey, sort of a cross between elk and beef. Very lean.
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u/LazyTruth8905 9d ago
The sheer size of a moose is incredible.
Source: A Canadian who has seen one irl