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Rating: 
Summary: Minus 1 star: Not recommended due to inaccurate information.
Review: Northern Trek Moose, is a nicely presented hard cover book. However, due to some gross academic inaccuracies about the natural history of Moose, it gets a bad rating. Actually, the book should be pulled from distribution channels, and the publishers should eat the loss. This however, which was my recommendation to the president of the publishing company, was not taken very seriously. The following excerpts from a lengthy letter written to the publisher are included below, which spell out in more detail some of the books errors. I do feel able to comment on the book since I was the main contributing photographer. It is quite a nice looking little book, and I wish I could recommend it, but not so-because... Textual and Photo Inaccuracies: Photo caption on page 9: "The loud bellowing sound that moose make is called bugling. A moose may bugle to contact a mate or to proclaim its territory..." The bull moose in this photo is not bugling. Bull moose do not bugle; in fact, they do not make loud bellowing sounds at all. They make a low grunting sound during the breeding season. What the bull moose is doing in this photo is scenting for female readiness to mate during the breeding season. The bull actually performs this gesture in silence. The cow moose, on the other hand, make loud bellowing sounds called protest moans, when approached by a breeding bull when not fully receptive. Page 10-11 textual error: "unlike elk and deer, moose do not shed their antlers. They keep them for life and use them to forage for food in snow..." Moose in fact do shed their antlers every year, typically in December or January, thereby spending much of the winter season without them. It is rare for a moose to use their antlers to forage for food, since: 1)they are browsers, 2)they don't have antlers for much of the winter, 3)and cows don't have antlers, therefore making them unable to share the same ability to acquire food. Photo caption on page 18: The caption associated with the photo on page 18 implies that the moose is feeding in the picture. Actually, the moose is scenting an urination pit from another more mature bull. Moose are browsers and while they may consume grasses occasionally, they do not feed on tundra vegetation as implied by associating this photo with a description about eating. Inaccurate photo representation on page 22 The image of a rain forest on page 22, implies that moose live in the rain forest, which is academically inaccurate moose habitat, and not indicative of any of the geographic regions listed on the adjacent page 23 as moose viewing areas. Based on these inaccuracies, I recommend pulling the book from distribution. While I realize that this to be a costly act, certainly a book of this nature does not place the Creative Company (Makers of the Book) in a positive light, nor does it reflect the intent I read behind the mission statement implied in the company packaging, I quote, "The most important question for you to ask yourself, be your profession what it may, is this: What books shall I read?" As a natural history guide and photographer, I have worked closely with moose in the field for many years. It is disappointing to see literature presented in such an inaccurate manner, especially for children's eager minds. Let's give those spongy young minds accurate information to read!!
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