Maybe both. Recently, Oregon Outdoor Journal blogged about Moose taking up permanent residence for the first known time in the Blue Mountains of northeastern, Oregon. My initial reaction: awesome! My second reaction: what the heck is going on here? Moose in Oregon?
So, I consulted my handy Cascade-Olympic Natural History to glean some insight. From that text:
“The continent wide population explosion [of Moose] is credited to the conversion of old forests to second-growth and brush (especially willows, their staple food) and, in some areas, (not BC) the elimination of wolves. ”
Hmmm, most certainly not the definitive word but food for thought.
Moose kinda melt my vehemence against invasive species, they’re just so cool.
However… it is weird ain’t it.
They aren’t quite nutria are they?
Nosir.
But… they are invasive and tasty… so some similarities.
LOL
Biologically, I think ‘non native’ is a more proper term, they’re not exactly lounging all over our golf courses downtown or anything… like SOME animals we know.