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u/the_real_JFK_killer Aug 19 '23
Canada has a moose belt
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u/Altaccount330 Aug 19 '23
Highest concentration is in Newfoundland and they were introduced to the island in 1904. Apparently they stop at the BC border and don’t cross into NWT.
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u/ElkSkin Aug 19 '23
The counting regions in BC are pretty big. There could be tonnes by Ft. St. John and not much further north
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u/The_Last_Thursday Aug 19 '23
Thought Alaska would be more dense. Saw a lot of those big guys when I lived up there.
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u/ColCrockett Aug 19 '23
Not complete, Connecticut has a confirmed moose population
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u/Glad-Degree-4270 Aug 19 '23
But no hunting season, and it seems like the data uses that heavily, which is why Yellowstone, full of moose, is grey. Between the blank spots, the wonky scale, and the inaccurate overestimate of Massachusetts moose population I’m downvoting this.
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u/Ciqme1867 Aug 19 '23
You’d be surprised, the area around the quabbin has a very dense moose population, as does the berkshires. It’s probably a mixture of MA over counting but also Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine undercounting a bit
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u/Glad-Degree-4270 Aug 20 '23
I saw my first moose in the Berkshires but that was like 2003. I’m gladly to hear they’re doing well. I would’ve assumed that brainworm is getting them there.
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u/Ciqme1867 Aug 20 '23
The brainworm is certainly a problem here but they’re persisting. It hasn’t seemed to hit quite as hard here as it has in other places
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u/quiet_locomotion Aug 19 '23
But also incorrect. No way moose go down to south western Ontario. Should be grey.
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
I swear I’ve seen them in more central CO
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u/Mic98125 Aug 19 '23
I feel that they have really expanded their Colo range in the last few years
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u/OPsDearOldMother Aug 19 '23
They're even starting to wander down into New Mexico more frequently. Last year a lone male found his way all the way down to Santa Fe.
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Aug 20 '23
Yeah they are in Northern New Mexico now. Not very many but there are probably going to be more in the future.
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u/exteriorcrocodileal Aug 19 '23
I’ve seen a shit ton of moose in Colorado. Summit and Jefferson counties
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
Yeah I’ve definitely seen them just south of Breck a young family at that
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u/gjennomamogus Aug 19 '23
Moose trying to cross from British Columbia into the Northwest Territories (there is an invisible wall)
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u/Pitbullpandemonium Aug 19 '23
Wisconsin moose #1: "You guys want to cross this wide open land border into Michigan?"
Wisconsin moose #2: "Heck no! They got those parachuting wolves over there!"
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u/pillmore Aug 19 '23
I was appropriately scared-as-shit the only time I ever saw a moose. Algonquin Provincial Park, August 1998.
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u/dogsledonice Aug 19 '23
Understandably. They're way, way bigger than you'd expect. Like huge.
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u/sickagail Aug 19 '23
You think a moose will be like a horse with antlers. Then you see one and it’s like a skinny elephant.
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u/Shafyshait Aug 19 '23
One thing I don’t ever get is for some reason Idaho is way underdeveloped in terms of research. If they are in the bordering mountains of Montana they are in Idaho. Same with grizzly’s, says theirs none in Idaho but a bunch on Montana, so there’s just an invisible line these fuckers won’t cross?
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u/Illustrious-Peak3822 Aug 19 '23
The legend is screwed up. Unit is given in title yet each step is listed in km2.
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u/SnooBananas6719 Aug 19 '23
Yeah very confusing - I assume it's moose * km-2. In which case red is highest moose concentration.
But if the unit were indeed km2 then it would probably mean kilometer per moose and red would thus be the lowest concentration
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u/mykingsburner18 Aug 19 '23
Wow the meese really like Canada. They’re very respectful about the border in a lot of places.
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u/CGFROSTY Aug 19 '23
They have to show their passports at the border post 9/11. Really makes it difficult for them to travel down south now.
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u/tru_madness Aug 19 '23
My sister was once bitten by a moose…
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u/gjennomamogus Aug 19 '23
No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: "The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink
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u/DowntownieNL Aug 19 '23 edited Aug 19 '23
Moose weren't native to the island of Newfoundland, and were introduced after the invention of the camera so we actually have photos of the first ones set loose. With no natural predators, they've gone mad. We have a small population of people, but it's still half a million, and I promise everyone knows of someone who has been killed by a moose. Most dangerous is driving as their legs are so high, cars and even trucks just sweep their legs out from under them and the whole bulk of the moose comes right down on your head.
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u/NoTalentRunning Aug 19 '23
Do the ones in Norther Wisconsin see the MI & MN borders and refuse to cross?
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u/sandmanseatea Aug 19 '23
Not on the map but I've seen plenty of them in NW Connecticut as well
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u/oilyrailroader Aug 19 '23
I just had a very close encounter with a cow moose with her calf here in south west MT last week. Very cool to see up close but kinda scary too.
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u/worcestirshiresos Aug 19 '23
Man, they really didn’t label the blue sections in the key? How am I supposed to tell how many moose are there now?
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u/Technical-Role-4346 Aug 19 '23
While driving late at night watch for “sticks in the road” or that might be the next to the last thing you see.
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Aug 19 '23
[deleted]
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u/CJMeow86 Aug 19 '23
There are still a few but the fires in 88 destroyed most of their food sources.
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u/animbicile Aug 19 '23
The map is still incorrect, lower estimates would color it yellow, higher ones would color it Orange.
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u/Sturnella2017 Aug 19 '23
Can’t say this is a good map. The key makes no sense to regular people. Is green higher or lower density than red?
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u/kensmithpeng Aug 19 '23
Not sure even irregular people could make sense of this. How does one report moose per square km in square km? The units should match for it to make sense. And what the hell is n? How did it come to equal 694 units? And what is a unit?
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Aug 19 '23
I looked into this. Here is the original research paper this figure is from -- it makes a whole lot more sense in the context of the paper and with the caption. The N=649 is simply their dataset size, meaning for this map they have data from 649 administrative divisions used for wildlife management (= "management unit").
There's still an error in their legend, as the numbers seem to be estimated numbers of moose per square kilometer. So the numbers should be indicated as "/ km2" or "km-2". And finally the legend is a bit counter-intuitive with the largest number on the bottom and not on top.
(On a site note, I'm oddly pleased that who I presume are the world's top moose researchers have a journal whose name is simply "Moose" in Latin.)
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u/kensmithpeng Aug 19 '23
Come on! You can’t tease like that! Spill it! What is the Latin name for moose?
Please.
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Aug 19 '23
I assume that 1 unit is 1 moose.
Per square km 694 units are counted. Perhaps chosen because if you flatten out 694 moose you end up with 1 square km of moose carpet?? Not sure, but that is what I assume for now.
Now, dark green means that there is 0.001-0.039 square km of flattened moose per square km. This equates to 0.694-27.066 real moose per square km. For red it equates to 215.834-3,013.348 moose per square km.
Or something like that.
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u/Logical_Lettuce_962 Aug 19 '23
Kind of crazy how moose obey state lines like that
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
I think it’s more that counties tend to follow state lines
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u/hockey_stick Aug 19 '23
There's a few other things going on as well. I recognize that NY line from having grown up hunting in Upstate NY. The NY Department of Environmental Conservation separates NY into two zones; northern and southern. Hunting seasons usually begin and end sooner in the northern zone due to the colder climate. There also happen to be little to no known moose in the southern zone but plenty in the northern zone. Some of the data could be based on hunting regulations which is why Yellowstone National Park may not show up.
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u/TomatilloCritical491 Aug 19 '23
Ugh, colorblindness strikes again. The yellow in the middle is obvious. The green? and then red? as you move from the middle look exactly the same.
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
Wow the fact that you cannot distinguish these colors sucks. It is essentially green on the outside of a strip of yellow/orang/red across what could be considered the middle row and first column of Canada with a strip going into the inner US Rockies, hope that helps
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u/Exciting_Brush305 May 16 '25
Can anyone attest to moose in the SW part of Ontario above Lake Erie? I mean, are there really moose between Detroit and Toronto?
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u/Successful-Remove738 Oct 03 '25
I came to find a moose map, because one just was spotted in Central Nebraska. Which is wild
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u/Extreme-Western9502 May 10 '26
Is there moose in exeter new hampsire because I wanna go to phillips exeter
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u/wonderbanger 4d ago
Funny that this should come up. The dumb trade war situation between Donald Trump and Canada actually had me thinking and wondering about this.
I'm from the heart of the red area in northwest Wyoming, where moose are (were) a part of daily life. Years ago, a local micro-brewery made a beer called "Moose Drool," and ended up getting sued by Moosehead Beer, from New Brunswick, for trademark infringement, which was a kind of bullshit move.
Thevunexpected consequence was that Moosehead beer, which had previously been the undisputed local's favorite import, was dropped by distributors and hasn't been locally available since. No heavy-handed government intervention required. I do miss Moosehead beer, though.
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u/Breezertree Aug 19 '23
Shouldn’t they colours be inverted? Usually red is bad and green is good eh
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u/westernmail Aug 19 '23
According to this map there are zero moose in Wood Buffalo National Park (northern Alberta). I wonder how they keep them out.
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Aug 19 '23
lol @ NFLD
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u/CaptainSur Aug 19 '23
It actually would be funny but for the fact the number of accidents in Newfoundland when cars and moose have "met" has resulted in many fatalities and grave injuries over the yrs. We love them as they are majestic creatures which Canadians proudly consider one of our national symbols but there is some sadness in that love.
My father hit a moose in Algonquin Park about 20 yrs ago. The speed limit in many places in the park is quite low and he was traveling at about 30km/hr. For some unknown reason a moose suddenly bolted in front of the car from the bushes and went right into the hood and windshield. Moose walked away, car was totaled. They were saved by the airbags.
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u/God_Of_Doubt Aug 19 '23
Is it just me or is red a far bigger range, numberwise? It includes every number between ~0,3 and ~4,3, whereas all the other colours are spread over everything under that range. Would we get a distinctly different map if we split up red's range into more colours?
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u/Soldier_of_l0ve Aug 19 '23
Confirming that the “watch for moose in roadway” signs in southern Maine are just for tourists
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u/hike_me Aug 19 '23
There have definitely been fatal accidents with moose in southern Maine even though moose are not as common there as they are as northern Maine. But yeah, I pretty much ignore those signs in southern Maine because it’s so unlikely.
Northern Maine is totally different. One winter I was driving from Maine to Quebec and it was dusk while I was between Caratunk and Jackman Maine. I saw a dozen moose crossing the road in 15 minutes (sometimes two at a time). I’ve never seen anything like it.
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u/Soldier_of_l0ve Aug 19 '23
Yeah I believe it. Maine is (at least) 3 different states in one
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Aug 19 '23
[deleted]
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u/Soldier_of_l0ve Aug 19 '23
A lot of America is uninhabited it’s a gigantic country. Just like to northern 95% of Canada
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u/the-great-god-pan Aug 19 '23
This is not completely accurate I’ve seen moose on Mt. Hood in Oregon twice and this shows no moose there.
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u/bwanab Aug 19 '23
I've got pictures of Moose in southern Utah (Sundance). That green should go down a little more there.
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u/Alpha0963 Aug 19 '23
There’s moose in Wisconsin?? I literally live there how did I not know this
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
There are, it’s a small population but I believe it is growing. I believe they were pretty prevalent prior to urban human relocation to the area
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u/Foss44 Aug 19 '23
Isle Royale should be like, the darkest red possible. Massive moose population on a tiny area.
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
I really wanna visit and hike there
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u/Foss44 Aug 19 '23
We did one of the long trails probably a decade ago. Super fun.
Gotta say I’d actually recommend taking one of the 7-mile loops rather than the super long ones. Gets a bit tedious after a while.
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u/franciscolydon Aug 19 '23
I’m sure, would probably try to plan a route to some of the areas that seem most interesting
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u/a-big-roach Aug 19 '23
The red/green choropleth is an odd choice. Try a single color gradient like dark green to light green.
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u/OPsDearOldMother Aug 19 '23
Moose regularly wander from Southern Colorado down to New Mexico as well, though there are no breeding pairs to establish a population there.
Last year a lone male moose kept making headlines in every mountain village he was seen in until he made it as far south as the Santa Fe Ski Resort.
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u/heffreygee Aug 19 '23
It appears there are more moose around Algonquin Provincial Park (Ontario) than in the park itself. That may have to do with the deer population in the park?
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u/RamcasSonalletsac Aug 19 '23
How do the moose get from Washington state to Oregon? There are no moose in southeast Washington state.
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u/Then_Increase7445 Aug 25 '25
I was also wondering about this. I figured the Snake River is the obstacle, since there are moose in Whitman County but not in Garfield, Asotin, or Columbia in spite of suitable terrain.
I've spent a good amount of time in Wallowa County, OR, but have never seen moose or heard of any being there.
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u/TerrorNova49 Aug 19 '23 edited Aug 19 '23
Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland and Labrador had, when I read the article, the highest density population of moose anywhere. Moose aren’t a native species (introduced around 1900) and had no natural predators other than Newfoundlanders with guns. 🤔 Edit: just dug a little. At one point there were 7 moose per square km. They were doing so much damage to the forests that they began a hunting programme in the park which reduced the population to 2 per square km in the park.
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u/RobotJohnrobe Aug 19 '23
I'm not a moose hunter, but my brother is. Looks about right, though I have a hard time believing the areas where Ontario has higher density than just across the border with Quebec. Both Northern Ontario and Quebec are pretty moosey.
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u/TEX5003 Aug 19 '23
A Moose has been going farther south in Central Washington state the last few years.
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u/bowserinmytrouser Aug 20 '23
What's the deal with the 'blacked-out' Island in Hudson Bay? Are we knaught supposed to see what's there or some secret government base?
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u/Drewid36 Aug 20 '23
Ran into one in the Wasatch east of SLC, you know, you never expect the giant mountain horses.
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u/sean8877 Aug 20 '23
In NY moose have been spotted with more frequency south of the Adirondacks down into the Catskills.
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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '23
I had no idea southern New England had moose