(dramatic music)
The king of the forest.
Nothing says northern wilderness
more than a magnificent bull moose.
But they don't start out big.
For twins born in a forest glade
a challenging childhood lies ahead.
They need to learn the ways of the wilderness,
cope with predators,
and find their place among their giant cousins.
It's a story with enough drama to fill a movie,
a moose movie.
(slow music)
(birds chirping) (bird calling)
The boreal forests circling the cooler parts
of the Northern Hemisphere.
Dense, misty, chilly, shady, and full of secrets,
including a well-hidden birthplace
for the kings and queens of the forest.
A diligent mother carefully cleans her calf
and encourages her to her feet.
Her twin brother has beaten her to it.
Even though he's less than an hour old,
the urge to walk is strong.
But moose have exceptionally long legs.
The wobbly stilts will take some getting used to.
The mother cleans up the mess from the birth.
She doesn't want any trace of blood
to alert predators to her babies.
These two are destined to become
the largest deer on the planet.
But they've got a long way to go.
The family are getting to know
each other's sounds and smells.
Their bond must be tight.
There'll be dependent on Mum for six months.
She'll protect them.
And during that time they must learn everything
they need to know to survive.
Moose often have twin calves,
though the chances of them both reaching maturity are slim.
They are not the only babies in the forest.
It's spring and everyone has new arrivals,
including the lynx,
one of the top predators of the forest.
Lynx can have up to five cubs.
This one only has a small litter,
but they are still hard work.
For their first month she kept them hidden in a den.
They were blind, helpless, and totally dependent on her.
Now they're strong enough to explore,
her workload is even greater,
trying to keep them together for their own protection.
Gently carrying them by the neck,
she tries to gather them, but all they want to do is play.
(gentle music)
She offers the one thing guaranteed to settle them down,
some warm and creamy milk.
It should keep them quiet for a little while at least.
Summers are short in the forest
and the animals here grow fast.
The moose twins are a few days old now.
Their fur's fluffy and they're a little more stable
on their long wobbly legs.
The stilts enable them to reach the milk bar,
which is also high, at the top of their mother's long legs.
Her milk has twice the fat of cow's milk.
It's also packed with enzymes and amino acids.
(moose calling)
In parts of Russia, moose are milked,
and the milk given to patients to help cure disease.
It's said to taste slightly acidic
and have a gentle pine scent.
The young are enjoying their breakfast
but Mum can't drop her guard.
This is the toughest time for her.
The calves are still not strong enough to run far,
small and vulnerable to predators.
(slow music)
She must stay on high alert.
(moose calling)
As fast as her calves are growing,
the lynx are ahead of them,
going from strength to strength
and now taking trips with Mum to explore the forest.
They're playing more than ever.
Pouncing on each other helps them
to build their strength and coordination.
(upbeat music)
The skills they will later need to hunt.
(birds chirping)
But their speedy development keeps Mum on her toes.
The cubs are starting to enjoy solid food.
Now she has extra hungry bellies to fill.
The moose just has to supply milk to her youngsters.
But to do that she has to keep herself well fed.
Moose are like other deer.
The calves know to sit down, still and quiet
in the undergrowth while their mother leaves to feed.
(slow suspenseful music)
Being away from the calves is risky.
It should be okay, but only if they keep still.
But the young female's getting restless.
No movement in the forest goes unnoticed.
The moose calf has a leg stretch
and wants to find out what goodies she's missing out on.
The lynx is cautious, using her coat
to blend into the shadows.
She needs to be careful.
Mum's nearby.
A blow from one of her hooves could be fatal.
(suspenseful music)
(moose calling)
Mum's quickly on the scene, but she's already too late.
(slow music)
She comforts the little male,
the lone survivor.
Their loss will ensure several good feeds
for the lynx family.
Well, in theory.
The wolverine is about the same size as the lynx
but one of the most feared animals in the forest.
Famed for its strengthen and ferocity.
The lynx knows it's best to stay
out of reach of its bone-crushing jaws.
(birds chirping)
She decides to choose a vantage point
where she can watch the fruits of her labor devoured.
Wolverines are sometimes called gluttons
because of their ability to make short work of a big meal.
It's a survival strategy for the challenging far north
where there is no certainty of where
the next meal might be coming from.
The moose can still smell her calf.
(dramatic music)
Mealtime's over.
Though all of the forest's great predators will take moose
given a chance, the giants are treated with respect.
She could kill with a powerful kick
from massive sharp hooves.
She's not taking any chances with her remaining calf.
The little prince drinks a lot.
He needs to grow fast and learn to take care of himself
so he doesn't befall a similar fate to his sister.
Moose are mostly solitary, but the pair are being watched.
A bull.
He's feeling optimistic,
checking out the cows in this region.
But it's still way too early in the season.
His antlers are still growing and covered in velvet.
He's just staking out the possibilities ahead of time.
She's more interested in grooming out the last
of her itchy winter coat.
The calf's growing fast
and is starting to experiment with solid foods.
He, like all cud-chewing animals such as cows and sheep,
only has front teeth at the tip of his lower jaw
which cut against a tough pad at the top.
But the chisel-shaped teeth are ideal for stripping bark.
His mother joins him for the woody snack.
The forest plants that the moose live on
are low in nitrates, but the cambium of the trees,
the inner bark that is busy making cells
for the tree to grow, is rich in nitrates
and the moose relish the mineral fix.
(upbeat music)
During his life the young moose
will roam through the forest,
a perfect patchwork of trees, lakes, and rivers.
And sometimes also meadows.
Now that the calf is bigger and stronger,
he and his mother will travel more
so he can learn from her where to find resources.
His gingery fur contrasts
with her short, dark ,chocolatey summer coat.
The youngster is increasingly aware of an audience.
(insects chirping)
This young bull has been following
at a respectable distance.
It's possible he's a half brother,
one of the female's previous calves
still hoping for a bit of attention.
The female's wary.
(slow music)
Even if he is family, a big blundering teenager
could do serious damage to the little one.
The calf is half his size and has a long way to go.
But the presence of the bigger male
seems to get him excited.
He's getting more confident, playful, and independent.
Mum tries to keep an eye on him during his games.
But charging about will help develop
his strength and coordination.
Moose love water.
And by the end of the day
they are not alone in enjoying the lake.
Male moose, even young ones, roam far and wide.
By the end of summer they'll gather
on favorite breeding spots.
(swans calling)
Whooper swans on the move
and first glimpses of yellow in the leaves
are the first signs that summer is waning.
Still, this male won't be ready to breed
until his antlers have stopped growing
and the protective covering of velvet has been shed.
The antlers fall off every winter and must be regrown.
They're among the fastest growing of all living tissues.
A bull moose can add a kilo of bone
to his headgear every two days.
It takes a lot of nutrition to fuel this growth.
And of course, what goes in must come out.
A dinner gong to some of the forest's smaller residents.
(flies buzzing)
The soils are often poor quality,
but the insects and fungi help break down droppings,
returning the nutrients to the ground,
which in turn will help the trees grow,
feeding the moose.
(slow music)
Mini ecosystems grow where the moose has been.
Dung beetles' specialty is taking out the trash.
They seek out lumps of poop they can bury,
into which they will lay their eggs,
creating an edible nursery for their young.
(birds squawking)
A toilet break for the moose is a romantic meal
for dung beetles hoping to pair up.
But a toad has an appetite for something else.
The whole bustling community is thanks to the passing moose.
(birds chirping)
Throughout their range, young bulls are on the move.
(slow music)
Following their noses, trying to pick up the scent
of females to get ahead of the game
and be in the right place at the right time.
Finding a cow moose in this vast wilderness
is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But with their long legs, moose are good walkers,
covering tens or even hundreds of kilometers
on their annual searches.
In the northern forests, summers can be generous
with rich pickings, but they don't last for long.
Though moose can live as far south as Colorado in the US,
Poland in Europe, and even parts of China,
they are most common in the boreal forests to the north
and can roam up the tree line where forests become tundra.
(birds chirping)
(slow music)
Here summer enjoys endless hours of daylight.
There is no night.
But as autumn takes hold, the evenings quickly draw in.
The loss of light and rapidly dropping temperatures
are a signal to deciduous trees to shed their leaves
to prevent frost damage.
As the green photosynthesizing cells die off
they reveal the other pigments in the leaves,
the glorious yellows, reds, and oranges of stored sugars.
Eventually the leaves will fall,
building a natural compost around the trees,
and they will be ready to sit out the cold.
The temperature and light trigger changes for the moose too.
They're flushed with hormones,
preparing them for their annual breeding season, the rut.
The first sign of change is that the velvet,
the blood-rich layer of skin
that has nourished the growing antlers, dies back.
(birds squawking)
It withers and splits, peeling away
to reveal the bull's new headgear.
And now the cows finally start to show a bit of interest.
(moose calling)
They'll soon reach their most fertile period
and start shopping around for the best fathers
for next year's calves.
(moose calling)
A young hopeful sniffs the air.
He has a sensory organ in the roof of his mouth
that can pick up the chemical traces of hormones.
The so-called flehmen position helps to get the urine
over these organs to get an accurate read.
It's like a home pregnancy test.
He wants to know if she is ovulating.
(slow music)
She's not quite ready to give it up
to the first bull she meets
and will make him work for it.
He'll need to follow and guard her over the coming weeks.
But his presence signals a major change for the young male.
He's still grabbing milk at every chance he gets.
But the appearance of interested bulls
means he won't have that luxury much longer.
(dramatic music)
The calf's much bigger, but not compared to the big guys.
Flushed with testosterone, the bulls are bolshy.
This could be very dangerous for the calf.
He can't afford to get caught between the angry giants.
(birds squawking)
(slow music)
The forest is cooled by the first frosts
but the moose mood just gets hotter.
(upbeat music)
(birds squawking)
Bigger bulls are turning up for a tournament
and a giant game of kiss chase gets underway.
It's hard to get any privacy.
A receptive female attracts quite a crowd.
The female's mating choices mostly come down to size.
But young hopefuls stay close
just in case an opportunity presents itself.
The big boys are tense,
knowing they must keep driving the competition away.
The cow has attracted quite a crowd
and the calf finds himself in the middle of a load of bull.
(slow dramatic music)
(mid-tempo music)
And his mother's too busy to notice.
The biggest, most impressive males
seem to wait to make their entrance.
But once they do, it's all over for the smaller competitors.
No matter how much they dress up for the occasion.
(birds squawking)
It doesn't mean they won't still try.
(upbeat music)
Occasionally an agile young bull
might manage to dash in and get some action.
But this big guy is not going to take any prisoners.
(dramatic music)
The only thing that can spoil
his romantic rendezvous is another giant.
The undergrowth is the first to feel his fury.
Between six and 12 years old
these bulls are in their prime.
There is only one way to settle the score.
At approaching a ton apiece, this is no place for wimps.
(moose calling)
His honor defended, the male has won her heart,
at least for this breeding season,
and goes to claim his prize.
The mating season is really tough on the bulls.
(slow music)
For weeks they must fight to prove their worth.
And by the end they're shattered.
Burning energy, their bodies lose condition
and not all will have the stamina to face the coming winter.
Other animals are injured in the ruckus.
But the cleanup crew is soon on hand.
The spoils come at the perfect time
for another giant of the forest.
Unlike the moose, the bears won't stick out the coming snow.
They will hibernate.
But to do so successfully, they will need to bulk up.
(raven squawking)
(slow music)
A big carcass like this
might literally prove to be a lifesaver.
It won't just feed the bears.
Ravens gather.
A whole host of scavengers
will benefit from the fallen giant.
The first snows meant time for the bears is nearly up.
(ravens squawking)
The whitewash will also bring more change
for the young moose.
His mother is still allowing him to hang around,
but she's cut off the milk supply.
Her focus is now on the embryo she nurtures inside her.
So he needs solids.
The leaves have fallen, vegetation is sparse,
and the snow is getting deeper.
It's time for the moose to move.
Many populations of moose have a migration of some sort,
sometimes covering hundreds of kilometers,
but usually less as they search
for a safe place to spend winter.
Most favor low-lying wetlands during summer
when ponds and lakes are full of tasty sodium-rich plants
and surrounded by succulent willow.
(birds squawking)
But in winter, the soft ground under snow is dangerous
and the low vegetation hard to find.
And so the moose climb.
Migration paths are well-worn,
used by generations of moose
for hundreds or even thousands of years.
(gentle music)
But their homeland is crisscrossed with waterways,
making a challenging obstacle course
especially for this year's young
who haven't confronted the journey before.
The normally solitary animals gather
as they retrace the pathways
they learned from their mothers.
They're all apprehensive, but especially the young.
(slow music)
Soft mud and slippery rocks make it difficult underfoot.
And in places the river is deep and the current strong.
The more experienced animals know the way.
They are the pathfinders,
knowing the safest, shallowest spots.
Others follow their lead.
The young male and his mother rush to catch up.
With their long legs they can wade most of the way.
And fortunately, moose are fantastic swimmers.
The young male has to paddle hard to fight the current.
But soon the whole herd is across, including the young male.
Now they can make their way into the hills.
Cold air sinks.
And so they're low, flat summer grounds
are colder than the hills.
And being on the valley slopes,
they're less exposed to the wind.
Even in the sheltered forests,
the moose need to prepare themselves
for some long, dark months of cold.
With their long legs,
they can cope with wading through snow.
But food is in short supply.
No grass or tree leaves,
just tough pine needles and bare branches.
But the word moose is derived
from the Algonquin Indian name twig eater.
The heavyweight deer are experts
in making a meal of twigs and bark.
Still with food shortages and the animals closer together,
there is more competition
for the meager resources available.
(dramatic music)
The males have dropped their antlers,
and without their head gear
both sexes use the same weapons, their big, heavy hooves.
With one dispute settled, they get back to business.
Another advantage of their big feet,
they make good snow shovels.
Getting caught up on disputes over food
creates new problems.
It can distract them from an arch enemy,
the wolf, the predator most capable
of bringing down even the biggest moose.
The wolf can move easily over the surface of the snow,
but the moose sink deep.
They use their peculiar gait,
lifting their feet high to avoid fallen logs,
to lift themselves through.
But the wolf barely gives chase.
While the dogs specialize in hunting big game,
they can only tackle moose as a team.
Perhaps the reason for its lack of enthusiasm
is because the rest of its pack have already made a kill.
(ravens squawking)
With bellies full, they are taking a timeout
to recover from the hunt.
With just enough energy
to lazily chase the ravens from their prize.
But soon they'll have a bigger pest to worry about.
(wind howling)
A bear has decided to put in a rare winter appearance.
Bears often do wake up from their winter sleep
and sometimes even seek out a little snack.
The moose meat has called him in,
but it's more than just leftovers.
The pack can feed on this for days
and they're not ready to give it up.
(dramatic music)
They have numbers on their side,
and the bear knows it.
He grabs a bedtime snack,
but they catch up before he can make it to his den.
He has to leave empty handed.
And the wolves celebrate their success.
They are the ultimate predators of the north.
By working together, they can tackle the biggest of prey
and defend it from the largest carnivores.
The winters are tough here
and many animals won't make it through.
(slow music)
Moose will succumb to the cold.
But eventually winter loosens its grip.
(birds chirping)
(water burbling)
The endless drips mean it's time
for the moose to return to their summer grounds.
The moose gather on the banks,
waiting for someone to make the first move.
But the meltwater swells rivers, fueling the current.
(slow music)
The moose gather.
The young bull is with them.
He survived his first winter.
He's now completely independent of his mother
but instinct told him to join the herd.
It will be wisdom from experience
that will guide the moose on their crossing.
With dense fur, they are not bothered
by the temperature of the icy water.
But it's deeper and more turbulent than before.
The current sweeps them widely off course.
But they stay calm, paddling strongly against the flow.
The young male is one of the last to take the plunge.
But he slips in behind an older cow
and carefully follows her route.
He has successfully made it through to his first birthday.
Many more will come.
Looking into his future,
he will grow, bigger antlers will come.
He'll hone his life skills, learning the ways of the forest
until eventually he'll be big enough to think
about fathering calves on his own.
But he's off to a good start.
A prince of the forest.
A movie star is born.
(gentle music)
(slow music)
(birds chirping)
(moose grunting)
(bird squawking)