Moose spend a great deal of time in and near bodies of water, feeding, cooling themselves and avoiding insects. They are powerful swimmers, exhibiting great speed and endurance. Moose have been observed swimming distances up to 12 miles, and are
Moose spend a great deal of time in and near bodies of water, feeding, cooling themselves and avoiding insects. They are powerful swimmers, exhibiting great speed and endurance. Moose have been observed swimming distances up to 12 miles, and are known to occasionally swim from one point of land to another when the distance is shorter by water than by land. (Adult moose usually swim with only their head out of water, whereas yearlings have most of their back exposed.) Moose can spread their hooves, and this is ability is thought to enhance their paddling skills.
Much of a moose’s summer diet is semi-aquatic and aquatic vegetation, thus they feed near shore as well as in deeper water. Studies have shown that moose will dive as deep as 18 feet to obtain submerged plants. It is slightly unsettling to see them totally disappear for up to nearly a minute while foraging under water!
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