Joan, 
Interesting.Maybe young moose sometimes don't have all their hormones in
order quite yet and so she got off of the normal schedule. Kind of like
first year nesting birds do goofy things with nesting and put a lot of
energy into unproductive broods. I think the hormonal systems are really
pretty complicated and it's a miracle things don't go awry more often. 

Catie  
-----Original Message-----
From: SciArt-L Discussion List-for Natural Science Illustration-
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joan Lee
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 8:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SCIART] report from the fort

Gail made it official that our spokesmoose for the 09 conference is 
Francine, whose photo I sent  to her and to a few other GNSI people.

  Francine Alces alces was born here about 3 years ago. I remember her 
as a calf with her mom at my pond. I have a snapshot of her jumping out 
of the tall grass where her mother had hidden her and rushing into the 
pond to her mother when she saw me. Her mom lifted her head from eating 
delicious whatevers under the water, looked at me, calmly turned and 
nudged baby into the woods where they both immediately disappeared. I 
saw them from time to time that summer and the mother never seemed 
disturbed by my presence. I made sure never to yield to the temptation 
to ease closer, but I did talk to her. They have great hearing and she 
would twitch her ears (never once did her ears go back in a threatening 
position). I never name wildlife but I named the mom Francine, and the 
calf, when I saw it was female, Francine Jr.

This summer Francine (Jr), a fine looking young moose, came back to the 
pond. I see her regularly and try not to disturb her. Recently I took a 
photograph of her and emailed it to a few GNSI people. One person 
questioned whether the moose was pregnant. She did look hefty, but 
because we had such a severe winter I figured she was just filling up 
on tasty greenery. It is too late in the season here for moose births. 
So I said, no, and hypothesized that she was just making up for a lean 
winter.

I was walking in the woods early this morning and thought I caught a 
faint whiff of death. I investigated and, sure enough, there was a 
stillborn baby moose in a location that would be typical of an 
undisturbed moose birth, in the ferns. I have no idea why a baby moose 
would be born here so late in the season. In neighborhing New 
Hampshire, which is considerably south of here, they are born in mid 
May to mid June, and it is about their second or third year that they 
have their first calf. This birth was no more than a couple of days 
ago. I am hoping that the coyotes do not want it and that I can salvage 
some bones for study. Will check with the local game warden.
Joan