While on our trip north of the border I watched a bull moose harvesting aquatic plants from a small lake. 3 Mallards waited patiently nearby as the big guy stuck his head underwater. When he came up to eat the Mallards gathered around and pecked at the detritus falling from his mouth. Obviously these food items were beyond the reach of the ducks. Mallards are capable of diving but it's probably more efficient to let a long-necked mammal do the hard work.


This is in contrast at another lake and a different moose, this one a cow. A male Green-winged Teal would paddle close to the moose as she submerged her head. The duck would then skitter away in alarm when the moose came up with huge mouthfuls of vegetation. I watched very carefully for several minutes and the teal never tried to pick up anything despite the messy table manners displayed by the moose. The teal would paddle back each time the moose stuck her head underwater and repeat the escape. I don't know what the teal was trying to accomplish.

-----Steve Ellis

sremse at comcast.net mailto:sremse at comcast.net

coupeville, Wa
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