Buckrail (Jackson, Wyo.) – This time of year is not only active for bears that are in the hyperphagia stage, but it is also an active time of year for moose and elk that are in a stage called the “rut.”
The rut is when the moose and elk are searching for females. According to Grand Teton National Park, at this time of year the bull moose may also spar for dominance.
“These breeding bulls are looking for cows so they are covering a lot of ground,” said Mark Gocke, the public information specialist for the Jackson and Pinedale regions of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “They are more aggressive and they are rubbing their antlers on everything. It is fine if it is trees, but a lot of times they are rubbing antlers on swing sets, plastic fencing and more.”
Gocke said that the Jackson region of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department gets a significant amount of calls in the fall for moose getting their antlers tangled in items in town.
“We ask homeowners to do a little inventory of their yard and ask themselves if there is anything that moose could get hung up in,” said Gocke. “This is especially important for people who haven’t lived here for a while, because this is something they aren’t used to dealing with.”
Common yard items that moose get tangled in include plastic fencing, Christmas lights in trees, hammocks, cables and swing sets.
Additionally, since the moose are more aggressive during the rut, he suggests these safety precautions for those who see moose in town and in the park:
- Keep a little more distance than usual.
- Always give them an escape route.
- Never surround an animal.
- If you going to take picture, use a telephoto lens or binoculars.
“Especially now because they are rutting, the moose can be more aggressive. You definitely want to give them more space,” said Gocke. “If you give the moose plenty of room and an easy escape route, it solves a lot of problems.”