Great Mountain Forest is home to 20 of Connecticut’s 100 or so moose. Yet most people who visit the forest will never spot one. That’s because despite their significant stature and status as New England’s largest land mammal, these ungainly ungulates—members of the order of hoofed mammals— move through the forest with remarkable stealth and agility. 

Wildlife photographer Stephen Schumacher, however, who has been documenting GMF’s diverse fauna for eight years, has captured GMF’s resident moose on multiple occasions. And Ed Faison, senior ecologist at the Highstead Foundation, a regional conservation organization based in Redding, CT, has studied GMF moose to better understand how they impact temperate forests.

Under the Microscope

Faison, the lead author of a recent paper on the effect of moose and white-tailed deer in New England on forest regeneration, explains “Moose have been studied for decades in the boreal forest, in Canada and Scandinavia and Alaska. So a lot is known about what they do to forests up there, but very little is known about what’s going on down here [in the temperate forest].”

Moose are relative newcomers to Connecticut. In fact, there is no hard evidence to suggest that the species had a stable breeding population in the state until the 20th century.“GMF is a great study site because it’s one of the few spots in Connecticut with moose, it supports long-term research and is actively managed” explains Faison.

Faison along with Steve DeStefano from the United States Geological Survey Collaborative Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Massachusetts spent 15 years monitoring the browsing (foraging) habits of moose and deer to determine their impacts on the abundance and composition of a re-growing forest in a disturbed woodland site, such as an area that had been cleared for timber harvesting. GMF proved an ideal study site.

A moose that eats up to forty or fifty pounds of food per day can certainly produce notable effects on the reemergent trees. Faison and DeStafano found that rather than restrict the forest’s ability to regrow, as prior scholarship had suggested, browsing’s primary impact was to direct different plant species to succeed in the disturbed environment, without substantial sacrifices to overall biomass or biodiversity.

The study, Resilience and Alternative Successional Trajectories in Temperate Forests Exposed to Two Large Herbivores published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management in June, concluded that the moose and deer did not significantly impact forest resiliency, or its ability to regrow after disturbance. 

However, the scientists also concluded that the moose and deer’s feeding habits did affect the forest’s composition. The browsed sites showed markedly reduced deciduous tree growth. That’s because the animals favored deciduous species, allowing white pine (Pinus strobus) to grow more abundantly in the browsed stands. 

Through the Camera’s Lens

Rather than their impacts on the forest, wildlife photographer Stephen Schumacher is interested in documenting the animals themselves, which is no easy feat. 

Despite being New England’s largest land mammal, moose are seldom seen. And even though their antlers can span up to five feet across, these ungainly looking, yet agile animals manage to negotiate the dense understory with remarkable ease.

“I’ve seen moose going through mountain laurel that is thicker than thick,” remarked Schumacher during a recent conversation. “It’s hard enough for me to get through there.”

Yet Schumacher persists. “This is a lifelong project,” he says.  “I still want to get my quintessential moose in early morning or late afternoon sun getting lit up like a Christmas tree.”

Not only does their reticent nature make moose encounters a challenge. But a moose that feels threatened can kick, charge or stomp, particularly a cow protecting her calf.

Schumacher’s dogged pursuit of moose has meant he’s had his share of run-ins with the woodlands giants, and the pictures to prove it. On August 27 this year, while riding his bike, Schumacher spotted a looming shape emerging from the edge of the woods. Jumping off his bike, and struggling to keep his hands steady as he prepped his camera for the shot, Schumacher uttered a low guttural sound to draw the huge bull’s gaze.

Normally, the photographer wouldn’t vocalize to the animals, but since this was before rutting season, he said the bull was calm. “His ears were up… he wasn’t posturing with his antlers. He was relaxed.”

To Schumacher’s amazement, the bull offered a reply. “He turned his head broadside, and he looked back at me, and he answered me back.” 

“It sent chills up my spine,” he continued, after a pause. 

“Seeing that bull, that’s probably the coolest thing I’ll ever encounter. And I’ve been able to photograph wolves out in Yellowstone,” he said. 

Schumacher has been tromping around GMF’s hinterlands for eight years, and he also monitors a number of trail cameras he set up around the forest, which gives him rare access to documenting moose as well as other mammals in the wild. Once, five years ago, two deer walked by one of his cameras and for a split second, the outline of their antlers matched perfectly. “Those guys were actually twins,” Schumacher said with a grin. Schumacher’s cameras have also captured fishers, martins, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and “lots of bears—some giant bears.” 

“I don’t take any of that for granted,” he said, emphasizing his gratitude to GMF staff for allowing him the access to do what he does. “It’s like getting a golden ticket in Willy Wonka.”

Despite his hands quaking with trepidation, Schumacher managed to capture a few images of a moose cow and her calf. Photo: Stephen Schumacher

Schumacher’s photographs and trail camera footage can be found on instagram @sds.wildlifeimages.