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"Moose may try to lick your car. Don't let them!" urges park service [1]
['David Pescovitz']
Date: 2024-01-08
Parks Canada has a stern warning for drivers this winter: "Moose may try to lick your car. Don't let them!"
Apparently, moose seek out additional salt in the winter as they don't get enough of the nutrient from their herbivore diet. In the winter, road salt is applied to highways to reduce skidding. The road salt then sprays up onto cars to form a delicious treat for the moose.
"In the summer there's lots of greenery around and those plants have a lot more minerals in it … and in the winter they typically don't have access to that," said University of British Columbia moose expert Roy Rea. "They have to go where they can to find the salt and … one of the most convenient places for them is if they cross the road and give it a lick."
The problem is that it puts the moose at risk of getting hit by a vehicle.
"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," says Parks Canada's Tracy McKay.
From CBC.ca:
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