this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2024

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179

'Try not to let moose lick your car,' warns Parks Canada, as more moose flock to highways (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 10 months ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/world@lemmy.world

38 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Parks Canada is warning drivers not to stop while on highways to let moose lick their cars this winter.

The peculiar message comes as moose have been trekking onto highways to lick salt off of roads and passing vehicles, says Tracy McKay with Parks Canada.

"It does sound very funny … It's okay to laugh at it, as long as people drive responsibly and do what's best for the wildlife," she said.

McKay says Parks Canada puts out a warning every winter as moose venture down to highways to fuel their salt intake.

"Unfortunately, this kind of puts [moose] at risk of being injured or killed if they get hit by a vehicle," she said.

"Parks Canada understands that seeing those wildlife is a real highlight for a lot of people, but we ask people not to stop … so that the moose can't get used to licking salt off of the cars."

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[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 36 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This might be a crazy idea, but has the Canadian government tried putting out troughs filled with salt, so the moose stop going to the roads as much? There's got to be all kinds of crap in the road salt (particles of rubber and metal at least, settled exhaust particulates, etc) that's bad for the animals, and probably much more concentrated than usual because they're licking the asphalt too.

It'd probably come with its own set of problems, of course, but I'm not sure they're be worse than the existing ones.

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Baiting animals for hunting is illegal. Sending the wrong message and would need to be super careful where you put them so they aren’t in hunting zones.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well, it would not be to bait them for hunting, so I'm not sure how baiting laws would be relevant here? If someone were to suggest that's the intention, then I suppose it's only reasonable to say that salting the roads is also bait and thus illegal 🤷

That was one of the potential problems I thought of, though. Not being a forestry expert I'm not sure of a solution (other than being really careful where you put them like you said!), but it does seem that salty roads cause the same problem in that moose will group up there to eat salt. Only now they're being killed by vehicles, too (not to mention making the roads icier, and the economic damage of crashes).

I should also disclaim that I don't live in Canada and I've never seen a moose in real life (I hear they're quite large, they sound scary tbh). This is just an armchair thought that seemed like it might work to solve the problem of moose licking roads in the winter.

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It’s not, but peoples would use them, it’s not inherently illegal to shoot a deer at a farmers cow lick, but it’s obviously against the spirit of hunting. These would also attract more than just moose as well, so predators would change habits and could use them for easy kills too.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You're absolutely right about the predators - I had figured moose and other prey animals would go in herds, which is typically how they defend themselves from predators. Lazy hunters are another story; while I'm sure there are ways to set up monitoring to discourage people from doing it, it's also indisputably true that if you give anyone a system they'll learn to game it.

I appreciate the discussion, by the way. This is one of my favourite ways to learn new things 🙌

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yeah I think it’s opening an interesting can of worms. Unless they amend the laws, it wouldn’t be illegal for them to use them, but changing them and than patrolling them could be considered entrapment. Or at least it would be tested in court and decided there.

[–] Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Is it just illegal in Canada? Every hunter I know, American and Canadian, baits deer

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Just because they do it doesn’t mean it’s legal…

Source

[–] Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Got the link? That site seems AB specific. Also, I just want to be clear that I’m not defending their behaviour in any way

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

That is for Alberta specifically, each province would have their own rules you would need to look up individually.

[–] jimbolauski@lemm.ee 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's only in parks, there's nothing about baiting on private property.

[–] schmidtster@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Sorry would have been better to post this one

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago

It is illegal, but it is done.

I do know some who play on the edge of the rules tho, like planting clover in small patches (which deer love munching on).

In Ontario if you get caught using salt licks there are heavy fines and charges. But in many of the more remote wildlife management areas you can purchase multiple deer tags (for population control, and the fact that moose and deer don't get along > deer push moose out of traditional areas).

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I've lived in remote Ontario areas and I can't tell you how often I've come around a blind rock-cut corner only to find 4 moose 50' ahead, kneeling in the road licking salt.

I wish we could either switch to straight sand or find an environmentally sound option vs salt.

[–] bzarb8ni@lemm.ee 19 points 10 months ago

Agreed. Not only are moose drawn to the roadside, but we're salinating our lakes and rivers 🫤

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

A moose once licked my sister.

[–] namingthingsiseasy@programming.dev 6 points 10 months ago

Møøse licks can be nasty, you know...

[–] hexabs@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

But he hardly knew her!

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Maybe Parks Canada could put a bunch of salt licks out in the forest away from the roads?

$27 on Amazon. They make them for horses, sheep and cattle, why not moose?

[–] Cinner@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I had the funny mental image of some intern at Parks Canada getting ahold of the Amazon account and putting in an order for 20,000 salt cubes for $27 each when they have literal metric truckloads of it already at bulk prices.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They have truckloads of it, but not in a lickable form factor. :)

[–] JustMy2c@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago

Any form factor is lickable....

[–] mack7400@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well, that's a brand new sentence.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

Only in Canada, eh?

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

They usually lick cars in parking lots.

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

So we gotta start mixing road salt with something super bitter and gross to animals but environmentally friendly, and not more expensive than salt.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 4 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The peculiar message comes as moose have been trekking onto highways to lick salt off of roads and passing vehicles, says Tracy McKay with Parks Canada.

McKay says Parks Canada puts out a warning every winter as moose venture down to highways to fuel their salt intake.

Roy Rea, an assistant professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, has been studying moose for 25 years, particularly why they come close to transportation corridors.

Rea says the large creatures search for salt in the winter because they need a lot of sodium to maintain their bodily functions.

With December and January being the darkest and often coldest months, Rea is warning drivers to be extra cautious while driving on highways.

"There's been a few projects in various places that have tried salt alternatives, but they tend to be more expensive or they don't work as well or both," she said, adding the warning is a way to preserve Canada's moose population.

The original article contains 553 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] OpticalMoose@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 10 months ago

Feeling called out by this. I mean those cars are tasty.

[–] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Better yet quit covering the roads with salt, which corrodes vehicles and is bad for waterways.

[–] Zaderade@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I agree with you but what are they going to use to keep roads from being lethal in certain winter conditions?

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca -3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And that's the problem. There are alternatives but until the feds actively push municipal/provincial gov'ts to change, they'll just keep using salt or liquid saline solutions.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world -2 points 10 months ago

Salt is the most effective and less damaging treatment for icy roads.

[–] Sludgehammer@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'd be interested to hear how your supposed to stop the moose once it's decided its going to lick your car.

[–] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I think Parks Canada is saying cars shouldn't stop if/when they see moose either on or beside the road.

Doing 15-20 kms per hr going past them should be enough to deter the moose from licking the vehicle while in the middle of the highway.

[–] Jaggle@lemmy.world -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This isn't world news

[–] boomer478@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

Oh man, there's a lot of people in Canada about to be real upset to find out they're not part of the world anymore.