IMAMMALS AND BIRDS OF ALASKA 



11 



])rey upon it to some extent, but it is believed that avalanches, which 

 are a common feature of its chosen terrain, destroy more mountain 

 troats than any other one natural cause. Sanctuaries, aggregating 

 7,444 s(iuare miles, assure the preservation in goodly numbers 

 of this interesting animal. 



The Alaska moose is the largest of its kind on earth, the bulls 

 attaining a weight of more than 1,400 pounds and having an antler 

 spread exceeding 6 feet. The willow, predominant tree growth in the 

 Territory, is its favorite food and enabl(>s it to pasture over at least 



MSTRIBUTION 



MOOSE 



Figure 10. — Distribution of the Alaska moose. 



240,000 square miles of brush antl open forest lands (fig. 10) . Although 

 most abundant on Kenai Peninsula (fig. 11) and in Rainy Pass, the 

 moose has extended its range well out onto the treeless Alaska Penin- 

 sula and has also been found within a few miles of the Arctic coast. 

 Its chief natural enemy is the wolf. At long intervals when severe 

 winters coincide with the cyclical peak of the snowshoe hare, which 

 competes with the moose for food in the willow patches, many of these 

 huge creatures die of starvation. The rutting season occurs in Sep- 

 tember and October. The young, one or two, are born late in May or 

 early in June. On 11,307 square miles of sanctuary provided for the 

 perpetuation of these great animals no hunting is permitted. 



