Welp… there goes the garden.
Gardening is a rewarding, resourceful and sometimes… downright frustrating hobby. On the one hand, you get the satisfaction of growing your own food, herbs or flowers, the relaxation and physical activity that comes with it, and sense of purpose that comes with creating, building and providing. But on the other hand, you have to keep it alive… and that means fighting off bugs, birds and mammals that want to take the spoils for themselves.
Imagine spending hours upon hours planting and tending to your garden, only to have a big ol’ family of moose come along and eat all that was meant to be harvested? Would be pretty frustrating, right? That’s happened in this video out of Fairbanks, Alaska.
But first, let’s talk about moose in Alaska…
Alaska is home to an estimated 175,000 to 200,000 moose, one of the highest concentrations of the species in the world. As a vital part of the state’s ecosystem and a major food source for both predators and human hunters, the population is heavily monitored and managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The Alaskan moose is the largest subspecies of moose in the world, with its scientific name literally translating to “giant moose.” Adult bulls regularly weigh between 1,200 and 1,600 pounds and stand up to 7 feet tall at the shoulder. In contrast, the Eastern moose found in New England and eastern Canada is noticeably smaller, with adult bulls typically weighing between 800 and 1,200 pounds.
Diet and Foraging Habits
Fun fact: the word “moose” is derived from an Algonquian term meaning “twig eater,” which perfectly describes their primary foraging mechanics. Throughout the year, but especially during the harsh winter months, moose rely heavily on the twigs, bark, buds, and saplings of willow, birch, and aspen trees. A healthy adult must consume 40 to 70 pounds of vegetation per day to maintain its body weight… that’s a ton.
In the summer, moose frequently wade deep into lakes, rivers, and bogs to feed on water lilies, pondweed, and horsetails. These aquatic plants are critical for their survival because they provide a massive influx of sodium and minerals that are completely lacking in their terrestrial winter diet.
In populated areas like Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, moose are absolutely notorious for raiding private gardens and residential landscaping. Because they are highly opportunistic foragers, a well-tended suburban yard is effectively an unguarded, high-calorie buffet. They will easily step over standard garden fences to devour homegrown cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, apples, and root vegetables.
During the winter, when natural food in the surrounding wilderness becomes scarce, urban moose frequently strip the bark and chew the branches completely off ornamental shrubs, domestic fruit trees, and decorative yard birches. Alaskan residents who want to maintain a garden or preserve their landscaping often have to wrap their tree trunks in heavy burlap or install heavy-duty, 8-foot-tall fencing just to keep the moose out.
Back to this family’s backyard garden…
The one thing that’s crazy about this video (other than the beautiful backyard view and the moose having a hunger for fresh produce) is that these moose seem to be traveling together in quite the pack. Moose tend to be solitary creatures, and other than calves staying close to their mother until they are ready to live life on their own, you usually only see moose doing regularly-scheduled-moose-things on their own. Occasionally you’ll see small bachelor groups assemble in the winter time.
But this footage below shows two smaller bull moose, a cow moose, and then what appears to be a couple of calves also tagging along. They can be heard (make sure you turn your sound on) bellowing and grunting at one another as they explore the multiple levels of the raised gardens. You can also hear the crunch of the vegetation they are claiming as their own as the moose treat the garden beds like an all-you-can-eat salad bar.
And to think that someone just walked out on their back porch and took a video of this. How cool is that right? I can’t imagine how breathtaking it must have been to witness the moose family’s presence and collective noise-making in person.
It’s hard to put into words how impressive the encounter was, but Cabin Creations did their best to describe it in the caption of the post:
“Turn on your sound and check out this amazing video. It was taken yesterday in our son Sam’s back yard in Fairbanks, Alaska.”
Definitely one of those bittersweet situations, where you are excited to see the wild animals up close, but upset that they are going to town on the garden you worked so hard on. There’s always a push and pull in life, am I right? Maybe this Alaskan homeowner will rethink the placement of their raised garden.
Either that or they’ll continue to plant as normal in hopes that the produce can be the moose family’s favorite feeding spot…
