We've all been seeing many moose around this spring, and I like it.
At any rate, the dewlaps, or bells, or moostaches, are a mystery. Both males and females have them, but male bells tend to be larger. Some of them are fat and 20 inches long, some are just tufts of hair.
The moose experts aren't in agreement as to the purpose of the dewlap. Some say it helps with heat regulation. The long strands that sometimes hang down can also freeze and break off in the winter. Ouch.
Apparently they reach their biggest magnitudes on the chins of 3-5 year old bull moose.
Many biologists speculate that dewlaps (bells) play a part in the mating rituals, perhaps for dispensing scents (from bull urine and saliva, if that could ever be appealing). Perhaps size and shape are attractiveness indicators.
I'm thinking that the bells have to get caught up in the brush sometimes, and that can't be comfortable. And that is all I know.
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