Moose Bones!

My time on Isle Royale was spent in search of bones...

MOOSE BONES.

Many of these moose died years ago and their skeletons have become part of the island...

covered in moss and leaves....

Ancient moose skull (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Wayne Shannon with unearthed skull (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Our team found many bones. 

Swampy skeleton (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Woman power! Ifi and I haul moose bones (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Moose bones strapped to my pack (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

Our team brought back five moose skulls! (L>R: Me, Bob, Wayne, Ifi, and Jason) (Photo courtesy of Jason Duetsch {Shiras Photography})

This study has been going on for 56 years now and almost 5,000 skulls have been collected. 

Researcher's collection of moose skulls (photo courtesy of Cathy More)

Many scientific papers have been published using information  from these gathered bones.

Find links to these publications here.

And a recent article on the plight of the 
wolves on Isle Royale here.

{Thanks to my fellow hikers for these photos!}