Talk: How are Moose in the Cody Region Coping

The October Draper Museum Lunchtime Expedition features The Costs of Thermoregulatory Behavior: How are Moose in the Cody Region Coping as Summers Intensify? The talk is presented by Rebecca Levine, who leads the Meeteetse Moose Project. 

If you prefer to join us online, you may register in advance via Zoom webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YCi-hcWASpql9QkxHWDpMw

Moose at the southern extent of their range are facing unprecedented challenges. Warmer and drier summers across the Rocky Mountain West are making life harder for this heat-sensitive species. With their large bodies, dark hair, and inability to sweat, moose resort to behavioral change to stay cool.

To avoid overheating, which can happen at just 50 degrees, moose slow their movement and seek out thermal refuge like shade or water. However, these behavioral changes can have some unintended consequences on nutrition, reproduction, and survival. A moose that devotes too much time to staying cool may not build enough nutritional stores to survive winter or raise young. In speaker Rebecca Levine’s work with the Meeteetse Moose Project, she seeks to untangle how moose navigate tradeoffs between immediate needs, like heat stress, and long-term needs, like reproduction. She shares her insights in this presentation.