If you ’re repel through any Canadian internal parks this wintertime , there is one thing you should n’t do , according to Parks Canada : do n’t stop to let European elk lap your car .
This may sound like a unusual instruction , but there is a practiced reason for it . As the main road through the parks preserve to be gritted to prevent ice rink , the animals are making their fashion into traffic in ordination to lick Strategic Arms Limitation Talks from the roads .
In some instance , people are stop to let themooselick the salinity that has clung to their vehicle ' exteriors .
" It does sound very rummy … It ’s OK to laugh at it , as long as masses drive responsibly and do what ’s best for the wildlife , " Tracy McKay , with the National Parks Agency , tell theCBC .
" Unfortunately , this kind of puts [ moose ] at jeopardy of being bruise or kill if they get polish off by a fomite , " she said .
It is understandable that people would need to take the opportunity to get that penny-pinching to such anincredible animal . Moose are monolithic . Theaveragefemale count 350 kilogram ( 771 pounds ) and the mean male person comes in at about 400 kilograms ( 881 pounds ) . They can originate up to 3.2 meter ( 10 feet ) in length , and a bull’santlerscan have a bridge of around 1.8 cadence ( 6 invertebrate foot ) .
However , encouraging European elk to approach cars can be dangerous for both driver and the brute . If moose startle to link cars with a possible source of salt , then they are more likely to take the air out into traffic and cause accidents , and likely get killed or seriously wound in the outgrowth .
But why are they searching for salt ? Well , the answer is aboveboard and not something that is unequaled to these animals alone . Moose , like many other herbivore , need Na and other minerals to defend their health . Throughout the summer month , they are able-bodied to get this from the big variety of greenery they consume , but in winter , things get trickier as food for thought is less wide-ranging and less abundant .
This is whyroad saltis so appealing . It ’s convenient and comparatively plentiful . Even in instances where sand is used instead of salinity , the animals will still lap road surface because there are trace amounts available to them .
January and February are also the obscure calendar month , so driver will have to navigate the roads in low - light conditions , which could make spot a dark - colored Alces alces all the more thought-provoking .
Ultimately , the advice is simple , McKay added : “ If it ’s safe to keep going without lead into the moose , then we would recommend citizenry just seek to slow , carefully drive by . Just try not to let moose work your car . ”
