More moose are on the loose

Record numbers of moose are roaming Spokane and Kootenai counties, according to state biologists.

So many moose are in the Inland Northwest that the giant, generally gentle creatures are increasingly making homes in terrain once considered unlikely habitat, including Palouse wheat land.

Mount Spokane and Mica Peak have one or two moose per square mile, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife research indicates. Moose outnumber elk in some parts of Mount Spokane.

Nevertheless, while any hunter can buy a tag and hunt either-sex elk in the Mount Spokane unit (hunting is prohibited in the state park, of course), moose tags are still allotted in limited numbers by lottery drawings. In Washington, a hunter generally is allowed to kill only one bull moose in a lifetime.

Moose numbers have been rising in the region for several decades as old burns and clear cuts brim with shrubs and young trees favored by moose, biologists say.

Although moose are notoriously difficult to count, 15,000 to 20,000 of the animals are believed to live in Idaho, with the highest populations found near the Canada border, said Dale Toweill, Idaho Fish and Game Department moose program leader. Fewer than 1,000 moose were in the state 50 years ago, Toweill estimates.

In recent years moose have moved onto the Snake River plain. Others have swum across Hells Canyon to Oregon, Toweill said, and moose have recently taken up residence in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.

Last year, a cow moose previously spotted near Audubon Elementary School on Spokane’s North Side was identified near Riggins, Idaho, about 180 miles away, said Kristin Mansfield, a veterinarian for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The growing moose population has been welcomed by hunters. Idaho issued a record 1,146 moose hunting permits this year. Three years ago, Idaho removed its once-in-a-lifetime restriction for residents to obtain a moose permit.

Toweill said the typical bull moose shot in Idaho has antlers spaning 36 inches, which is fairly wide for the Shiras subspecies of moose that inhabits the Inland Northwest.

Washington increased moose permits from 100 last year to a record 114 this season, including 40 for the Mount Spokane and Mica Peak areas. Success rates are better than 90 percent.

Three bull permits were offered for Washington’s first moose hunting season in 1977. Antlerless moose permits were first offered in 1998. Moose haven’t been found west of the Cascades.