# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/41 "2009-12-17T23:36:39Z")
Would a climate that has such a short growing season that it would stunt the growth of vegetation even be able to support a moose of that size? To grow that big I’d think you’d have to have some lush vegetation at you disposal for a fairly long time during the year. ---
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/42 "2009-12-17T23:36:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t see anything odd about the shadows, the angle of the moose’s legs, the background, or anything else. In fact I think it looks perfectly normal as the moose moves away from the photographer and the photographer maybe zooms in. Is there a single photo on the 'net that someone has not claimed is faked? 😉 Something about Marley’s post seems a bit off. See the border between the word “else” and “In fact”? Could be photoshopped. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/43 "2009-12-17T23:43:54Z")
Definte photoshopping/CGI in this video: [World’s Largest Moose](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6I_TVLg9pE) ---
**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, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/44 "2009-12-17T23:48:32Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Would a climate that has such a short growing season that it would stunt the growth of vegetation even be able to support a moose of that size? Sure, moose live in the boreal forests of the north and even tundra. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alces\_alces\_NA.svg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alces_alces_NA.svg) ---
**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, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/45 "2009-12-17T23:48:52Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Would a climate that has such a short growing season that it would stunt the growth of vegetation even be able to support a moose of that size? To grow that big I’d think you’d have to have some lush vegetation at you disposal for a fairly long time during the year. As I said before, I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska. It is pretty far north, right? And interior Alaska is crawling with moose. Typical vegetation in permafrost areas will look like this: > **[Paleoclimatology | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/paleoclimatology)** > > NCEI manages the world's largest archive of climate and paleoclimatology data. Our mission is to preserve and make this data and information available in order to understand and model environmental variability on an interannual to millennial time... Those are the dwarfed black spruce I’m talking about. No telling how old those trees are. Aaaand here’s pic of a muskeg area with moose running along: [http://www.alaskadynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/moose-running.jpg](http://www.alaskadynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/moose-running.jpg) The funny thing is, the same species of black spruce can grow into a large tree on well drained soil: [http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1635.html](http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1635.html) ---
**Author:** ![old\_joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58956e/32.png) [@old\_joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/old_joe)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/46 "2009-12-17T23:50:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t see anything odd about the shadows, the angle of the moose’s legs, the background, or anything else. In fact I think it looks perfectly normal as the moose moves away from the photographer and the photographer maybe zooms in. Is there a single photo on the 'net that someone has not claimed is faked? 😉 looks fine to me. seems to be a quad trail which would be 6 - 8 ft wide. I think we are looking a damm big moose walking down a little trail. the trees look just like what i grew up, small and dense. As for sinking into the ground if its dry clay its pretty darn hard. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/47 "2009-12-18T00:03:01Z")
Sign me up on the list of people who’ve seen real live moose and real scraggly little trees who thinks that’s a real pic of a big moose on a little trail. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/48 "2009-12-18T00:12:16Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > 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. No, you just have gauged where the Sun is incorrectly. The Sun is about 85 degrees from the LOS of the Photographer horizontally. The Sunspot by the left foot comes from the Sun bearing down at an angle that is far from any part of the Moose. There is no reason to see any of the shadow of the Moose because the body would be on the trees at the left of the frame, and the legs might be blocking some sunspots for all we know. If you look at the sunspots on the right side of the road just on the far side of the drainage thing, you’ll see how the legs of the moose cutoff a bit of the Sunspot. It’s much fatter in the first picture than in the second one and you can see the Sun shining on the leg the Moose is standing on at about the right length to match that Sunspot accounting for the alteration of the angle. If you want to see if it’s a photoshop what you really need to do is open it in photoshop look really closely, you can almost always see rasterization around the edges. All but the best photoshop artists leave that behind, and likely a hoaxer isn’t going to be working with really hi-res images to begin with. My verdict is that it’s probably real, and yeah, the scale is skewed because we don’t know how exactly how big the road is but it’s a well-worn track used by cars obviously, so it’s gotta be around 6.5 wide at least. The Moose looks like if it laid down on it it’d only be a little bit outside of the road. So it’s a huge Moose, but not necessarily outside of the range of normal. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/49 "2009-12-18T00:46:47Z")
Ms. Attack found a[localizing website in Greenville, Maine.](http://www.lodgeatmooseheadlake.com/blog/2009/07/big-moose-spotted-within-mile-of-lodge.html) They claim it to be a moose they’ve seen over the years. Oh, and it looks like a big moose on a small track with scrubby trees around. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/50 "2009-12-18T00:48:02Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > \Which is fine if the picture was taken in northern regions, but there is nothing in the picture that makes me think it is in a northern region. My guess would be somewhere between New Brunswick and Ontario. This is the text in the forwarded email. I haven’t the first clue who this guy is so I don’t know if it’s accurate. > [@From the forwarded email](#): > > By the length of his beard and the grey legs, I figure he must be over 10 years old. He looks to be well over 8 feet at the top of the shoulder hump, and with his head up the height to the top of his antler must be about 12 feet .This guy is king of the forest, no bear or pack of wolves would dare come after him when he has this rack…Considering that a dirt road can fit 1 1/2 cars across … this fellow is HUGE …THIS IS ONE BIG BOY! > > THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN IN ELLIOT LAKE ( Elliot Lake is near Sault Ste. Marie > > Yes it is a regular size dirt road. It just doesn’t look like a dwarf forest to me. And if you look at the small tree next/below the moose, it looks to be about 2 feet tall. That would make the moose about 6 feet at the shoulder. No, I don’t have any references except I live in a pine forest and have seen a moose in my yard (thought it was a freaking horse at first.) The ‘road’ does not look right. An unimproved probably unmaintained road will have vegetation in the middle of it. Sort like [this.](http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r148/enipla/?action=view¤t=IMG_0598.jpg) There is no way that’s a ‘1 & 1/2’ lane road. Not unless babe the blue ox is right behind that moose. I now think it’s a real pic on some sort of trail with the camera man on his knees. And that line across the ‘road’ below the moose? I suspect that’s an erosion control timber. You bury them in a trail at an angle to divert water. As the OP, I must admit that when I first saw this pic, I thought it was a HUGE moose. Not that he’s ‘small’. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/51 "2009-12-18T00:55:00Z")
I just found this using [tineye.com](http://tineye.com). Scroll down about half way to see the pic. [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2374846/posts](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2374846/posts) ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/52 "2009-12-18T01:14:35Z")
**enipla** Whoever said that it’s an unmaintained road? In America the forest service maintains back roads, and if enough cars pass by it’s common for it to look like that. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/53 "2009-12-18T01:36:28Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > **enipla** Whoever said that it’s an unmaintained road? In America the forest service maintains back roads, and if enough cars pass by it’s common for it to look like that. Yep. You’re right. But what it looks like to me is a maintained trail. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/54 "2009-12-18T02:15:14Z")
During my only visit to Alaska back in 1980, I saw a couple of moose that size. One stepped over a 4 foot tall fence and it’s stomach cleared the fence by about a foot. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/55 "2009-12-18T02:18:44Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > As I said before, I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska. > > It is pretty far north, right? And interior Alaska is crawling with moose. > > Typical vegetation in permafrost areas will look like this: > [Paleoclimatology | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/parcs/atlas/beringia/images/img0054.jpg) > > Those are the dwarfed black spruce I’m talking about. No telling how old those trees are. > > Aaaand here’s pic of a muskeg area with moose running along: > [http://www.alaskadynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/moose-running.jpg](http://www.alaskadynamics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/moose-running.jpg) > > The funny thing is, the same species of black spruce can grow into a large tree on well drained soil: [http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1635.html](http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF16/1635.html) I’m not disputing that there are moose very far north, I’m saying that that is one extremely well fed moose to be in a place with a very short growing season and with not a whole bunch of available vegetation in the best of times. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/56 "2009-12-18T02:43:39Z")
Moose are what convinced me dieting was hopeless. No, wait, there’s a relevant point here. Moose are huge. And can be very scary. I’ve been chased by a moose on a trail off Turnagain Arm. Very frightening. Anyway, my point. Moose eat, what, twigs and leaves? Leaves and twigs? Maybe some grass with the twigs and leaves? And they get _huge_. Therefore, dieting by eating lots of high-fibre, low calorie food was pointless for me. 🙂 Pass the fries. I also think that “road” looks an awful lot like the Galloping Goose trail here in Victoria–an old narrow-gauge railroad that’s been converted to a biking trail. It certainly doesn’t look like a regular automobile road to me. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/57 "2009-12-18T03:04:59Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > A moose once bit my sister. Zebra’s sister was bit by a moose…Hmmmm… There’s got to be a joke in there somewhere 🙂 ---
**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 18, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/58 "2009-12-18T04:26:27Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Zebra’s sister was bit by a moose…Hmmmm… Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti… ---
**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 18, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/59 "2009-12-18T05:00:31Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I’m not disputing that there are moose very far north, I’m saying that that is one extremely well fed moose to be in a place with a very short growing season and with not a whole bunch of available vegetation in the best of times. We don’t have dwarf moose in Alaska. In fact, Alaskan moose are generally larger than your average southern moose. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651/60 "2009-12-18T05:22:25Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Definte photoshopping/CGI in this video: [World’s Largest Moose](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6I_TVLg9pE) Were any other Canadians expecting this to be a picture of [Mac the Moose,](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/brianbogdan/root/march/pix-moose-jaw-sign.jpg) the moose along the highway in Moose Jaw who gets his balls painted blue regularly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-that-moose-get-big-but-yikes/521651.md?page=4)