Outdoor Nova Scotia: "The Best Way to be Informed."

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by Beth Cameron

May 24th, 1999 Sydney, N.S. -  The Cape Breton Highlands have long been known for their scenic beauty, and now they are becoming known for another unique feature. Moose hunters are reporting that Cape Breton moose have larger racks than those in the rest of the Atlantic region.

In 1997 a moose was taken which had a rack ranking fourth or fifth in
the world, according to Danny Caldwell, an official measurer for the  Nova Scotia Big Game Society. This rack scored 228.75 inches using the standard  Boone and Crockett method. There have also been several world-record sheds, or dropped antlers, found by collectors. (Mature bull moose grow a new set of antlers each year and shed them in mid-winter after the mating season). Records kept by the Big Game Society have shown a definite pattern of larger racks from Cape Breton.

"The Cape Breton Highlands are in a strong regrowth phase today, and  so there is a lot of food available for the moose" says Tony Nette of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. "An animal's health and nutrition are the most important factors in determining antler growth." Nette says DNR has not looked into these reports of large antlers because antler size is of not important in the overall management of the provincial moose herd.

It has also been suggested that the large racks are due to hybridization
between native Cape Breton moose and Albertan moose introduced in the late 1940's to bolster the population in Cape Breton. Nette says there is no definite proof that hybridization ever occurred; the Cape Breton moose numbers were extremely low at that point, and the majority of moose in Cape Breton today are thought to be descended from the introduced animals.

"Moose tend to get larger as you move north and west in North America," says Walter Hingley, founder and past president of the Nova Scotia Big Game Society. Accordingly Atlantic moose (except those in Cape Breton) tend to be smaller (and therefore have smaller racks) than those in western Canada. This would explain why Cape Breton moose tend to have large racks, if  they are in fact mostly descended from the introduced stock. "There is no doubt that Cape Breton moose are bigger, mainly because of the good habitat and the genetic contribution of the introduced Albertan moose," says Hingley.

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