Moose Obsession

The more I dig deeper into this project, the more infatuated I become with moose (or meese as my mouth wants to say). I've done some prelimenary research from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and during class on Thursday will begin to track down official reports/records from the reintroduction project, as well as contact my uncle in the Upper Peninsula who just so happens to be a park ranger.

There's so many great visuals to be used (and exaggerated upon)...61 moose being helicoptored from Ontario to Michigan, the trade of moose for wild turkeys, pregnant moose, Canadian moose vs. US moose, etc.

Here are a few leads I want to follow up on, as listed in the Moose Project Chronology.
-1985 Bull 20 (a.k.a. "Gulliver") roamed from Marquette to Chippewa Co.
-1990 A 2 year-old cow moose struck and killed by a minivan on M-28, Baraga Co; hide tanned for educational demonstration; meat salvaged and donated to charity.
-1992 MDOT abandoned "moose crossing" signs on M-28 because of repeated thefts since 1986
-1996 Nuisance bull unsuccessfully hazed with crackershells and truck horn from farm in northwestern Baraga Co., then darted, radio-collared, and translocated 40 miles away
-1998 Grouse hunter found a bull moose trapped in tangled, old telephone wire

And another interesting twist: Because of heavy lumber activities in the late 1800's, the landscape changed in the U.P. to favor white-tailed deer over moose. If losing your home wasn't enough, what if your new neighbors were hosts of a fatal parasite? The deer carry brainworm, which have little effect on the deer but can wipe out moose populations. Wolves used to keep these white-tailed deer populations in check, but of course, are no longer as prevelant due to hunting and habitat loss. The population dynamics fascinates me.

I'm loving this research collection stage in the project, partly because IT'S SO EASY. Well, easy compared to the french library I was used to in Mali. Access to information is so abundant here... I love it!

I'm thinking about using this as a framework to create an allegory on immigration, tongue in cheek of course. Come on, what's funnier than 61 pregnant Canadian moose trying to live in the United States (granted, the U.P. is a lot like Canada, but that's a whole 'nother blog post).