Locked to the End

Locked to the End. . , Each fall bull moose all over the world enter their mating season, known as the rut. During this time, the velvet layer of the bull's antlers begin to shed, and they begin to spar with one another as a way to practice their fighting skills. In September, the bulls begin fighting for the right to breed with the various groups of cows. Unlike sparring, this can be quite violent and battles often last for hours. During these battles bulls can break antlers, suffer injuries, and occasionally, the encounters can be fatal., The two trophy Bull Moose you see here were found in early October 2014 in interior Alaska, in the heart of the Alaska Range. The two bulls' antlers had become locked during an encounter and they both died as a result. After approval from Alaska Wildlife Troopers, our crew worked to salvage the animals in hopes of preserving the moose and sharing their amazing story with our visitors., The bulls here were transported back to Fairbanks and turned over to renowned tanner Al Barrette of Fairbanks, and master taxidermist Russell Knight of Anchorage. After months of planning and preparation, Knight's Taxidermy recreated the scene simulating the moose's locked position moments before they met their end., [Photo caption reads] This image shows the two moose exactly how they were found.