Steamboat Moose Readies Antlers For Mating Season
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - A pair of bull moose wandered into a Steamboat Springs cul-de-sac Sunday morning.
The more mature male sported antlers freshly shedding their velvet.
This shedding typically occurs just prior to the fall mating season and leaves new, shiny set for display and -- if called upon -- ready for battle.
A Colorado Parks & Wildlife web page dedicated to the animal says the mating season begins in mid-September and runs through October.
The cows then calve the following May and June.
After the mating season, the bulls shed their antlers. They immediately begin growing a new velvet-covered pair, increasing in size as the male ages. A fully mature bull's rack may reach five feet across.
Colorado's moose population blossomed following reintroduction efforts 40 years ago. A dozen moose were transplanted here three separate times from Utah and Wyoming, then 100 were shipped in during the early 1990's.
They number more than 1,000 today.