Moose elevations

[joemf1985]

I was in the mountains of central Co today and was at about 12000 feet and found some piles of either large elk feces or moose feces. My question is whether Shiras moose will go to that elevation near timberline or not?

[hvfd21walker]

Bulls move up to sub-alpine after the rut.

[MSUcat61]

I know moose in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem will spend the winters in the shelter of subalpine firs (just below treeline), eating the saplings that grow up around the tree when the lower branches reach the ground, and move to the next tree once they've eaten all the saplings. Apparently, this is the only place this behavior has been observed.

Anyways, obviously they are found in willowed creek bottoms and marshes, but Shiras moose are much more of a on-top-of-a-timbered-ridge kind of animal than a swamp dwelling one like their brethren to the north. I've seen them at relatively high elevations, (not that high) so who knows?

[*******]

I've seen moose in the wide open alpine in the summer and crossing alpine snow fields in the fall.