Moose wander from Colorado to Heron Lake

Moose had wandered down into Colorado from Wyoming herds for years, according to the agency’s Web site. In 1978, Colorado’s Division of Wildlife decided to introduce the moose formally, transplanting 12 Utah moose to an area near Walden, Colo. The next year, a dozen more moose from Wyoming were put in the Laramie River Valley.

The moose did so well the state began offering limited hunts and Walden was dubbed the moose-watching capital of Colorado.

In the early 1990s, about 100 moose were released in the upper Rio Grande region of southern Colorado near Creede, according to a history of the moose program on the wildlife division Web site.

Colorado’s moose are called the Shiras moose or Alces alces shirasi, and are the state’s largest big-game animal. It is one of three sub-species of North American moose. Adults weigh as much as a medium-size horse, between 800 to 1,200 pounds. A mature bull measures up to 6 feet at the shoulder. The moose rut or breeding season runs mid-September through October.

The last wayward moose to appear in New Mexico was in the mid-1990s near Taos, according to Mower. It was captured and taken north.