Bull moose, autumn forest

Don't mess with moose

Seven feet tall at the shoulder and weighing over a half ton, a full-grown Alaskan bull moose looks cumbersome but is shockingly swift. Even in calfhood, moose can easily outrun humans. Deep snowdrifts (like those that'll soon cover this field near Denali) hardly slow them down, their huge hooves working like snowshoes to keep them from sinking. And believe it or not, moose are also great swimmers, able to dive and hold their breath for almost a full minute while scavenging for underwater plants. Deceptively agile as they are, bull moose deal with one unwieldy asset that cows don't: antlers. An Alaska moose's antlers can be almost as wide as the animal is tall, the record rack measuring a massive 80 inches.