Moose at the Beaver Pond Part 3 HD 1080p

Compare moose and elk rutting behaviour and it is evident there are major differences in their behaviour, physical features and habitats. Both species rely on visual. olfactory (sense of smell) and auditory (sound) cues. Bull elk are far more vocal than bull moose are. It is the cow moose that is the most vocal of the species and the reason has to do with each animal's preferred habitat.

Elk live in more open country where it is easy to be seen. Moose are creatures of the woods, Seeing another moose, let alone finding a mate is a challenge. When a cow comes into heat she may not have a male close to her so she calls. The moose's large ears are able to hear these calls and the bull moves towards her. She also urinates frequently and leave a scent trail for him to follow. Her scent contains pheromones which advertise her breeding conditions.

Moose will seek openings in the forest to court. Lakeshore, meadows, glades and beaver ponds are ideal places to meet. However just finding a member of the opposite sex is not enough. There are other things to be considered.

In this video it is a young bull that happens to find a cow with a calf in the beaver pond. She is not yet ready to breed. She is not calling or scent marking. She is there to feed. And size matters, antler size that is. This bull sports small antlers and this tells the female that he is young and has not had access to the high quality food that a mature bull would be able to access. She will wait for a bigger bull to show up.

His antlers are "red" because he just scraped off the velvet and the antlers are stained with drying blood. They will eventually bleach and the antlers will be quite visible against the dark forest.

Moose have very large noses which are ideal for detecting scents. At one point the bull can be seen sniffing the female. He is not encouraged.

The calf is of no interest to the bull and it wisely stays out of the way.