Just trying to keep the tradition of small scale farm life alive. Raising heritage and crossbred cows, other livestock, poultry and gardening.
04/03/2025
The last few days our waits river valley has had the blessed sighting of a young moose. Causing many people to stop by the side of the road for photos and lots of calls to VT Fish & Wildlife. This moose appears to be a youngster possibly even last years calf who could have been chased away by the mother after weaning.
He/she looks to have found some forage along the river banks and is doing what nature intended. Living the life in Vermont by daily foraging and waiting for spring to come.
Here are some Moose facts:
Male moose is called a Bull
Female moose is called a Cow
Baby moose is a called a calf
Moose are VTs largest animal standing at 6' tall or taller at the shoulder and weighing between 600-1200lbs
Moose are excellent swimmers and in the summertime you can see them frequent swamp lands and ponds eating water Lillie's and other aquatic plants high in sodium which helps promote good calf growth and antler growth.
In the wintertime they browse on woody twigs such as maple, aspen, willow, hobble ect and while hard to digest and not very nutritional they rely on the fatty reserves gained from summer feeding to get them through Vermont winters.
Moose can run up to speeds of 35mph.
Being a dark color they are hard to see at night and in New England around 500 vehicle accidents each year involve moose.
New calves are born May-June usually being a single calf though it is not uncommon for older cows to have twins as long as they had adequate forage throughout the summer and fall.
To learn more you can visit the VT Fish and Wildlife website.
