This spring brought five moose calves to MRWC, all within a few days. Moose may be big animals but very easily succumb to a stress related illness called capture myopathy. All the calves were placed together in a quiet, natural enclosure but three did not survive due to the extreme stress they experienced before arriving.
Two however, thrived. We don’t name our patients but do reference their identification tags. "Big Blue" and "No Colour" drank the specially developed ungulate formula readily from the remote bottle station and spent hours browsing in the forested enclosure. Wild moose were occasionally seen visiting through the fence. The calves always panicked and ran when humans entered the area.
Early October is the time of year that two important things happen - local moose begin to gather on MRWC property and calves are weaned off milk. Once these things happen, it is time to open the enclosure doors and let the moose leave to join with others and become truly wild.
Big Blue and No Colour have been seen several times around MRWC's 493 acres, sometimes by themselves and other times in the company of as many as six other moose, but not once have they shown any interest in people. The staff did a great job following protocols and we smile each time we see the calves doing what moose are meant to do.