# I know that moose get big, but yikes! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651 "2009-12-17T16:56:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/1 "2009-12-17T16:56:28Z")
Like the title says… [This](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r148/enipla/moose1.jpg)guy looks to be about 8 feet tall at the shoulder. [Walking down a road](http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r148/enipla/moose2.jpg) This is shopped, right? Shadow doesn’t look right. ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/2 "2009-12-17T16:58:52Z")
_waits for Palin reference_ ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/3 "2009-12-17T17:21:31Z")
Definitely fake. The “background” is identical and we’d expect a shadow across at least one of the sunspots by his front hooves. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/4 "2009-12-17T17:22:30Z")
I see what they did there. The shot of the Alaskan trees are real but they brought the moose in from Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/5 "2009-12-17T17:24:47Z")
That’s a hiking trail most likely. You are probably having problems with getting the proper scale. ETA - or it’s been shopped. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/6 "2009-12-17T17:28:14Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Definitely fake. The “background” is identical and we’d expect a shadow across at least one of the sunspots by his front hooves. Atually, some of the shadows are on target. You can see differences where the moose body is obscuring a few more sunspots near the.. is that a cattle gate across the road? And more sunspots are revealed in the foreground now that the moose has passed. The sunspot by the left hoof is a bit puzzling, but anyone who could 'shop a moose that well into a picture, could have fuzzed that out easily enough. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/7 "2009-12-17T17:35:44Z")
If it’s shopped, it’s really good. The moose matches the lighting/exposure/focus in both pictures. Moose do grow to [6-7 ft. at the shoulder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose#Size_and_weight). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/8 "2009-12-17T17:41:54Z")
It might be photoshopped, I’m no expert on that. But there’s no reason that photo couldn’t be real. The reason the background is the same in both photos is simply because both photos were taken from the same spot. And the moose isn’t 8 feet at the shoulder–the “road” is a one lane trail or track. You can see the characteristic unworn strip in the middle. And in northern areas where moose live, trees can be very small–you can have 50 year old black spruce that are only ten feet high. Your mind wants to see the trees as big trees and the road as a two lane road, which makes the moose seem bigger. And whatever the source for the moose image, it’s clearly a very large mature bull moose with a full set of antlers. And moose really are quite big, a lot bigger than people expect. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/9 "2009-12-17T17:57:20Z")
The second picture looks odd to me. I think it is the sharpness/focus of the hooves and legs. They look to be in much better focus than the surrounding foliage. And a moose that weighs that much would sink in to the dirt a bit, and the hooves look like he’s walking on a firmer surface. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/10 "2009-12-17T18:04:00Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And the moose isn’t 8 feet at the shoulder–the “road” is a one lane trail or track. You can see the characteristic unworn strip in the middle. Yes, that’s the other thing, it’s not a “road” it looks like one of the rail trails we have all over Ontario. The thingy I thought was a cattle gate is for drainage :smack: I recognized it as soon as I realized it was a trail. It’s skewing the sense of scale. Rail trails around here, like the Saugeen Rail Trail used to be train tracks. The track were ripped up and the routes maintained as recreational trails. They’re fun for long days on a mountain bike if you’re a beginner because they tend to be very, very flat. In some spots they are their full width (so wider than a train car), but in a lot of places they have grown in and are more [narrow](http://webhome.idirect.com/~brown/caledon.html) . Here’s a guy walking on a [rail trail](http://images.travelpod.com/users/mmbcross/fall_foliage.1186863480.1x-rail-trail-in-mtx-tremblant.jpg). The moose is big, but probably not as extraordinarily big as looks in next to the trail. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/11 "2009-12-17T18:11:46Z")
There’s a reason “ **Brake for Moose, It Could Save Your Life** ” bumper stickers are popular in moose-laden areas. I don’t know if the photo is 'shopped, but it’s plausible in terms of size. Moose really are enormous, and it looks like he’s walking on a hiking trail, making him seem bigger due to the scale. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/12 "2009-12-17T18:13:20Z")
Looks real to me. The moose’s front legs in the second picture are lit where they’re shadowing the road, but it’s not lit everywhere. The change in clarity of the moose and background between the two pictures looks consistent. It would have to be an awfully good forgery, but for what reason? Agree that it _looks_ very large, but just do to an inaccurate sense of scale. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/13 "2009-12-17T18:13:33Z")
> [@Hanna](#): > > The second picture looks odd to me. I think it is the sharpness/focus of the hooves and legs. They look to be in much better focus than the surrounding foliage. And a moose that weighs that much would sink in to the dirt a bit, and the hooves look like he’s walking on a firmer surface. If it’s a rail trail, they are _very_ solid, particularly in dry areas. They were designed with drainage in mind. If a train isn’t going to sink into the dirt, a moose won’t. I’ve biked along a few that have been wrecked by spring ATV traffic, and they can get soupy if there’s been a lot of rainfall, but most of the time the well maintained ones are packed quite solidly. We were even able to ride our road bikes with our skinny little tires on them. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/14 "2009-12-17T18:26:05Z")
I’ve biked and ridden horses extensively on rail trails. I still would think a massive animal like that would show some hoof sinkage. I’ve seen horse hooves leave marks in really hard pack dirt. The hooves just look too sharp/fakey for me, and that makes the photo look odd. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/15 "2009-12-17T18:30:54Z")
Reminded me of when my family was in yellowstone and we heard there was a moose and calf over at the end of the campground. I saw the pretty sizeable calf right away, but didn’t see mom until what I assumed had been the frigging BACKGROUND moved. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/16 "2009-12-17T18:35:47Z")
It looks like a dwarf forest, with only a few inches of topsoil until the dirt hits rock. The trees in such areas don’t grow as tall, giving a perspective problem. That moose could easily be 7 feet at the shoulder. They are big critters. Do not approach as close as that photographer did. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/17 "2009-12-17T18:37:39Z")
A guy my wife went to school with has claimed for quite a while that he took that picture. I don’t know one way or the other whether that’s true but he claimed it was taken near [Stanley, New Brunswick,](http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=stanley+new+brunswick&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Stanley,+York+County,+New+Brunswick&gl=ca&ei=a3kqS-jRA8_HlAfa0IioBw&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA&ll=46.283895,-66.736697&spn=3.924952,9.876709&z=7)IIRC. Like I said I can’t vouch for him but the road in the picture looks like hundreds of hunting and logging roads around here. I’ve seen a lot of big moose but not that big. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/18 "2009-12-17T18:37:48Z")
You can tell that it’s shopped because it’s a video of something strange that’s been posted on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/19 "2009-12-17T18:44:14Z")
I think it’s real. Moose really do get [rather](http://i.pbase.com/g6/36/718136/2/71265413.eMnRg6Yr.jpg)[big](http://canadianfermentation.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/moose3.jpg), and that trail is probably narrower than expected. There’s a moose that likes to visit the 9th green at a golf club I used to work at. He was huge! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/20 "2009-12-17T18:48:17Z")
He is only a little over 2 inches on my screen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651.md?page=2)