UW’s Biodiversity Institute to Host Summer Moose Day Weekend July 18-20

Summer Moose Day activities will span a weekend -- Friday-Sunday, July 18-20 -- this year and include the usual regimen of volunteers heading out on various trails to spot and count moose in the mountains outside of Laramie. And, for the second year in a row, the event will kick off with a group hike in Curt Gowdy State Park.

“The moose walk is in addition to our regular Summer Moose Day weekend survey,” says Mason Lee, senior project coordinator of the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute. The Curt Gowdy hike is tentatively scheduled Friday, July 18, from 8-10 a.m. “We’ll start the hike with a short moose biology talk, and then we’ll conduct our Moose Day survey as a group while following Moose Day protocol. Participation in this guided hike does require the purchase of a daily Wyoming State Parks pass for Curt Gowdy.”

Lee says she is still working out the details and confirmation for the Curt Gowdy community hike, for which no registration is required. Participants are asked to meet at the Upper North Crow Reservoir at 8 a.m. for the community hike.

For the traditional portion of Summer Moose Day, volunteers can look for moose either Saturday, July 19, or Sunday, July 20, but do not have to participate both days. There are slightly more summer routes than during Winter Moose Day because there are a few routes that volunteers can drive rather than hike, Lee says. There are 22 routes in the Snowy Range; 19 in the Pole Mountain area, which includes Happy Jack and Vedauwoo; and one route in the Arlington area. Volunteers can view the routes here.

Registration for Summer Moose Day is now open at www.wyomingbiodiversity.org/index.php/community-science/bi-annual-moose-day/registration and will close Tuesday, July 15. Multiple groups will be allowed to sign up per route, and participants can choose whether they conduct their survey Saturday or Sunday.

“Online asynchronous training is required of new participants. We will not hold an in-person training,” Lee says. 

While volunteers can make their treks any time of day, Lee strongly recommends an early morning start, as that is when moose are most active. Community scientists will record observations of moose or their signs, which include tracks/hoofprints, bed areas, scat droppings and browse on aspen and willows.

During the 2024 Summer Moose Day, one cow moose was spotted. Other mammals observed included beaver, coyote, deer, elk, marmot and pronghorn. In 2022, 16 moose -- 10 males, five females and one calf -- were spotted. That number tied for the record of the most moose witnessed, which first occurred in 2016.

The data gathered from Summer Moose Day are shared with biologists at UW. These biologists use the data collected by community scientists to further their understanding of the population densities of local moose, their reproductive rates, summer habitat quality, their winter ranges and how these variables change over time.

More will be learned after Dave Christianson, an associate professor in the UW Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, and his graduate students analyze the Summer Moose Day data as well as external factors that can affect moose counts, Lee says.  

Both summer and winter Moose Day events are geared toward increasing the public’s understanding of moose in the Laramie area and involving the public in asking and answering questions. These events are an extension of the original program, Moose Day, held by Nature Mapping Jackson Hole (NMJH) in Jackson each winter. NMJH is a citizen science program created by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation.

About the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute

The UW Biodiversity Institute fosters conservation of biodiversity through scientific discovery, creative dissemination, education and public engagement. In this setting, scientists, citizens, students and educators come together to share a wealth of perspectives on the study and appreciation of biodiversity -- from microbes to poetry and ecosystems to economics. Learn more at www.wyomingbiodiversity.org.

For more information, email Lee at mlee37@uwyo.edu.