Cyclicity and individuality in the salt licking by moose, Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758), in the North-West of the Russian Federation

Abstract

Modern remote sensing methods contribute to the study of previously unexplored features of the vital activity of animals, including mineral nutrition of the largest terrestrial mammals in the North-West of the Russian Federation. In the article, seasonal observations of individual moose [Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)] on artificial salt licks were analyzed. The attendance of salt licks was monitored using automatic photo-video recorders (cam-era traps) from 2015 to 2020 on the territory of various hunting farms in 3 districts of the Leningrad Province. The annual, seasonal and daily cyclicity in the use of mineral feeding places by moose was revealed. For this research, from the total sample (n = 372) of registered individuals, 118 most reliably identified moose were specially selected, of which 72 (61%) showed cyclicity in salt licking with a certain frequency. In the remaining 46 individuals, the cyclicity was not observed for explainable objective reasons. Females, to a greater extent than males, are more settled in relation to places of mineral feeding, which is indirectly confirmed by the percentage in the selected groups. The time intervals between the periods of salt licking vary individually. Based on similar patterns of attendance inherent in most individuals, the nature of visiting artificial salt licks by moose during the active period of salt licking (April-November) is as follows: each “group of visits” consists of several (1–11 times per day) periods of salt licking for 1–5 days in a row, followed by a break of 10 to 20 days, followed by a repetition of the “group of visits”.