The Norwegian Moose

Bergen and the Fjords

2008-12-05T20:32:00.006+01:00

Bergen is situated between seven mountains on the North Sea coast of Norway. Very close to Bergen you will find the beautiful Hardangerfjord. Among other other sights you will find The Rosendal Barony - a picturesque small castle deep in inside the fjord.

Sognefjord

The Sognefjord is Norway's longest fjord (second in the world), 205 km long. Here you can find The Flåm Railway which is a fantastic train journey from the mountain station Myrdal on the Bergen Railway from Bergen to Oslo, through the steep and exiting Flåm valley, down to Flåm station at the head of the Aurlandfjord.

There are several old stave churches to be found around the fjords. Five of the oldest are in the Sognefjord region, and all of them date back to the 12th century.

Fjords formed during the ice age

The fjords were formed when the ice retreated and carved out the u-shaped valleys that you can see today. The fjords, which consist of saltwater, are often very deep - the Sognefjord as an example drops down to 1,308 metres below sea level, making it Norway’s deepest fjord. Because fjords are so deep, they permit navigation by large ships, allowing you to experience their beauty at close range.

How to get there?

You can take the plane and rent a car from Bergen, or also check some of the many packages going by train and ferry. There are several cruiselines offering crusies along the fjords.

10 Online Maps of Norway

2008-03-19T14:15:00.019+01:00

10 online maps of Norway, including Svalbard, Bjørnøya and Jan Mayen as well as city-maps of Oslo and Bergen.

Political Map of Norway and Scandinavia
PDF-version

Map of Norway and surrounding countries
PDF-version

Map of Svalbard from 1970

Detailed map of Oslo in pdf-format

Map of Bjørnøya (Bear Island)

Interactive road-map of Norway

Topographic map of Svalbard

City-map of Bergen

Historical map of Norway from 1662

Map of Jan Mayen

Polar ice cap melting away in 2008 ?

2008-03-17T09:20:00.008+01:00

How low will they go? Putting a date on the melting of the Arctic ice cap has been a popular prediction game among scientists of late; in recent months, we've heard estimates ranging from 2030 to as early as 2013.

The latest salvo comes courtesy of Xinhua, which reports that Olav Orheim, the head of the Norwegian International Polar Year Secretariat, is placing his money on this summer. Noting that its ice sheet had reached a historical low of 3m sq. km last summer - it covered around 7.5m sq. km as recently as 2000 - Orheim told Xinhua that "if Norway's average temperature this year equals that in 2007, the ice cap in the Arctic will all melt away." Barring this disaster, Orheim predicted that excess carbon dioxide emissions and higher average temperatures would unpredictably alter the region's fragile ecosystems. On a separate note, he said that Asia would likely be hardest hit by rising sea levels, estimating that a one meter rise would affect "nearly 100 million people on an area of 800,000 square km in Asia and direct economic loss will amount to 400 billion U.S. dollars."

Shrinking ice cap in the Arctic Ocean even produced a new sea route from the Bering Strait to Oslo last summer, said Orheim. Maritime enterprises in some industrial nations such as the UnitedStates and Britain have started mulling on how to use it to cut cost over the past six months, he added.

Olav Orheim

Dr. Olav Orheim is a distinguished glaciologist, climatologist and polar expert who has spent more than thirty years studying the effects of global warming. Dr. Orheim, was Head of Research at the Norwegian Polar Institute's (NPI) Antarctic Section from 1972 to 1993, before becoming the NPI's Managing Director. Alongside his work with the NPI he was a Professor at the University of Bergen's Department of Geology from 1989-2005, where he specialised in glaciology. He is currently Executive Secretary of the Norwegian International Polar Year.

A renowned authority on climate change and its effects on the planet's poles, Dr Orheim is currently Senior Adviser to the Norwegian Ministry of Environment.

Eat whale and save the world

2008-03-15T09:10:00.006+01:00

Eating whale meat is far better for the climate than eating other types of meat. That’s the conclusion of a new, groundbreaking study.

“People can eat whale meat with a good conscience,” says Rune Frovik of the High North Alliance, which has conducted the study.

Norway and Japan, the two main whaling nations, are seeking new arguments to promote whale meat after years of condemnation from anti-whaling nations for breaking with a 1986 moratorium on all hunts meant to save many whale species from extinction.

The study compared the carbon foot print of Norwegian minke whale meat and farm raised meat. It found that the carbon foot print of beef was eight times higher than that of whale meat. “Put simply, one meal of beef emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as eight meals of whale meat,” says Frovik.

When expressing greenhouse gas emissions as CO2 equivalents, whale meat ends up with 1.9 kg per CO2 equivalents while the corresponding values are 17.4 for lamb, 15.8 for beef, 6.4 for pork and 4.6 for chicken.

The CO2 equivalents for other types of meat were done through other studies.

Greenpeace said the threat of extinction was more important.

"The survival of a species is more important than lower greenhouse gas emissions from eating it," said Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace. "Almost every food is more climate friendly than meat.
Most fish and seafood has similarly low emissions."

The High North Alliance has for years argued that abundant whale stocks make whale meat a sustainable and ecological sound option. International scientists estimate that there are more than 100,000 minke whales in the areas where the Norwegian commercial whale hunt takes place.

“Now it is also confirmed that whale meat is low carbon and good for the climate,” Frovik says.

A transfer to green taxes in which the real costs associated with climate change emissions are incorporated in the real consumer prices may strengthen the economic competition of low-carbon items.

“With increasing environmental awareness, coupled with abundant whale stocks, the future for whaling looks bright,” he says.

Further information:
Study on the carbon foot print of whale meat

Norwegian field station dissapeard

2008-02-18T22:37:00.009+01:00

The Norwegian Polar Institute’s field station on Bouvetøya (Bouvet Island) is no longer to be seen on satellite images, and scientists are now working on the theory that it has been taken by a landslide and driven out in the ocean.

The unmanned field station is located on the most remote island on the planet, in the South Atlantic Ocean. By a Royal Norwegian Decree of January 23, 1928, Bouvetøya became a Norwegian Territory. In 1929, Riiser Larsen, the famous explorer, flew over the island several times when the Norvegia called again to collect specimens. As on their first visit, stores were landed for the assistance of shipwrecked sailors, this time at Larsøya. The Discovery, under Sir Douglas Mawson with a South African Meteorologist (S. A. Engelbrecht) called later in 1929, but found conditions too hostile to establish a weather station. On a subsequent visit by the Norvegia, both of the huts they had established had disappeared.

Norwegian scientists have regular field stays on Bouvetøya to study foraging strategies and distribution of fur seals and penguins. The monitoring is part of the international programme CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring System (CEMP) for the Antarctic marine ecosystem and has high priority within Norwegian Antarctic research. The last time scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute worked on the island was in 2001, but during the Antarctic expedition in 2003/2004, expedition members from the Norwegian Polar Institute visited the island briefly.

Read the report from the scientists’ current stay

As a curiosity: Bouvet was the setting of the 2004 movie Alien vs. Predator, in which it is referred to using its Norwegian name "Bouvetøya".

Despite being uninhabited, Bouvet Island has the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) .bv, though it is not used. A handful of amateur radio expeditions have gone to this remote location (call signs used here begin with 3Y). There is no telephone country code or area code, and no telephone connection (except by satellite, but there is nothing installed). There is no postal code and no postal distribution. Ships appoaching the Bouvet Island falls within the UTC Z time zone. There is a Norwegian law saying that the time zone of Norwegian territory is UTC+1, except for a part of year (daylight saving time). This means that the legal time zone is UTC+1 for the Bouvet Island, like Jan Mayen which is located in the UTC-1 nautical time zone, but also has UTC+1.

Guarding the Arctic Gate

2008-01-25T10:47:00.001+01:00

Annually the Norwegian Coast Guard control more than 3000 vessels in the economic zone around the Norwegian mainland, Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Around 70 percent of the Coast Guard’s resources are used on inspections; other tasks are in the areas of exercise of sovereignty, search and rescue preparedness, ambulance service and assistance to the fishing fleet.

KV Harstad

The personnel of the vessels consist of naval officers, conscripts and civilians. Coast Guard officers undergo a different training than the rest of the Norwegian Naval Forces. A Coast Guard officer has to be familiar with the various acts, laws and regulations, which regulate the various tasks the Coast Guard has in accordance with the Coast Guard Act. A large part of the education is based on fisheries regulations, but also a necessary understanding of all the other laws has to be established. As a Coast Guard officer you must be able to balance between being a military officer, civilian authority and police officer. On the vessels there are also civilian navigators and crew that are working there as a consequence of a unique military/civilian partnership. Some of the ships of the Norwegian Coast Guard have been hired from ship owners on a ten-year lease.
The commanding officer of the ship is military but the day-to-day running and maintenance of the ship is the duty of the civilian ship owner. A structure like this makes it possible to conduct better economic analysis and control over future expenses.

Ongoing inspection

All the Coast Guard vessels are continuously on patrol, operated by two separate crews. Each crew is on patrol for three weeks followed by 32 hours at the base for debriefing, crew change, refueling, supplying and briefing of the relieving crew before the next three weeks patrol. The philosophy is to ensure presence at sea with required capabilities. This means that the main goal of the Coast Guard is to have the ships and A/C, the required expertise, and the necessary authority where they are needed at sea at all times.

KV Svalbard

The Royal Norwegian Navy offshore patrol vessel KV Svalbard was constructed by Langsten AG at Tangen Verft shipyard in Krageroe and launched on February 17, 2001. She was christened December 15 in Tomrefjord with Minister of Defence Kristin Krohn Devold as godmother, and delivered to the Kystvakt on January 18, 2002. She entered service mid-2002 and is homeported in Sortland. Her primary operating area is in the Arctic waters north of Norway, the Barents Sea and around the Svalbard islands.

General Characteristics

* Missions:

- fishery inspection
- enforcement of sovereignty
- search and rescue
- environmental protection
- research and expedition support

* Displacement: 6500 tons
* Length: 103.7 meters overall, 89.0 meters waterline
* Beam: 19.1 meters
* Height: 8.3 meters
* Draft 6.5 meters
* Power: four 3390 kilowatt BRG-8 diesel generators
* Propulsion: two five-megawatt Azipod electric thrusters
* Aircraft: capacity for two helicopters; one Lynx carried initially

The Norwegian Economic Zone

Norway in Antarctica: Queen Maud Land

2007-07-08T10:30:00.001+01:00

Queen Maud Land is the part of Antarctica claimed by Norway, and is regulated through the Antarctic Treaty System. Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to set foot on the South Pole named it after the Queen of Norway at that time (1911).

There are a number of research stations located in Queen Maud Land, among them two from Norway (Troll and Tor). Since 1948 the Norwegian Polar Institute, a part of the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment has been assigned the administration of Dronning Maud Land.

Princess Maud of Wales (Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria; later Queen Maud of Norway; 26 November 1869 – 20 November 1938) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and later Queen consort of Norway, as the wife of King Haakon VII of Norway. She was the first queen consort of Norway since 1319 who was not also queen consort of Denmark or Sweden.

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (July 16, 1872 – c. June 18, 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first successful Antarctic expedition to the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission. With Douglas Mawson, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Amundsen was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Link: Norwegian Polar Institute

Fast growing Solar Energy

2007-06-25T13:45:00.000+01:00

You would probably not think about Norway as the best location to use solar panels, and that is also correct considering the number of days with rainy weather. However, one of the world's most successful solar-energy companies, Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) is a Norwegian solar energy company headquartered in Oslo that had a remarkable growth during the last few years.

The stock market value doubled last year, mainly because of the increased worldwide focus on environmently friendly engergy-sources. REC says the world's supply of solar-grade silicon will roughly triple by 2010, playing down forecasts for even faster growth in the lucrative sector. Europe is REC Solar’s main market, with Germany the largest segment and the Mediterranean becoming increasingly attractive. REC aims to play a leading role and be a key contributor in shaping the future of the solar energy industry. Their ambition is strong and profitable growth, at a pace at least in line with the development of the PV solar market. They will achieve this by further expanding capacity across all our businesses, while continuing to pursue ambitious technology development programs and cost-reduction initiatives.

Solar power is not only part of the solution for a long-term sustainable energy supply – it is a rapidly growing and increasingly competitive energy source already today.The growth potential is particularly strong for solar energy. It is abundant and renewable, and can contribute to replacing diminishing fossil fuel resources over the long run. Solar energy production entails no greenhouse gas emissions or noise during its operation. Solar modules have no moving parts and will last for many decades without maintenance requirements. Solar energy could also be a key element in providing electricity to the rural poor. The basic requirement is enough sunshine – which is why solar power is particularly suitable in the sunniest regions of the world, i.e. in the “sunbelt” between latitude 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south. In these sunny regions the energy pay-back time for a solar module is less than 2 years, and continues to decline due to technological improvements.

REC official website

REC unveils vision

Hurtigruten - the costal voyage to Norwegian fjords

2007-06-24T19:42:00.001+01:00

Hurtigruten or "The World's Most Beautiful Sea Voyage" was established in 1893 to improve communications along the jagged coastline of Norway. Today it serves a slightly different purpose, being one of the most popular tourist-gateways to Scandinavia and in particular to the raw Norwegian fjord and coastal landscape.

Most of the cities in Norway are situated by the coast or inside the fjords, and as the mainland topography is dominated by mountains, it made most sense to establish a network of Steamships connecting cities like Hammerfest and Tromso more closely to the rest of Norway. After Hurtigruten started running, the mail from central Norway took only seven days (from previously 3 weeks).

Today, Hurtigruten still is important for local businesses and travelers along the coast, as well as they increasingly have streamlined it's ships to meet the need of modern tourists. Jacuzzis, bars, restaurants and other comforts are now standard in most of the ships.

Altogether the company runs 11 Hurtigruteships along the Norwegian coast, in addition to 54 ferries and high-speed vessels in Nordland, Troms and Sunnmøre. The company has also 2 ships in cruise traffic in the Antarctica and 1 ship under construction which is meant for sailing along the Greenland coast as well as ordinary hurtigrute service.

The main office of the company is situated in Narvik. There are also company offices in Tromsø and Stokmarknes.
Hurtigruten ASA currently employs 3400 people, of which approximately 1800 works in seabased operations, and approximately 170 works in the foreign sales organisation.

Further information:

Hurtigruten History

Hurtigruten offical webpages

Knut the polarbear - not too hot in the summer

2007-06-24T19:22:00.000+01:00

The extremely popular baby polarbear "Knut" in Berlin's Zoo is according to German researchers able to regulate it's body temperature quite efficiently to the comfort of many concerned Knut-fans around the world.

Knut (a typical Norwegian name) was born in the Berlin Zoo in Germany in 2006, and after being rejected by it's mother he got the attention of the world. Ranging as the most glamorous polarbear-celebrity of all times, hundred of thousands of visitors have already been to the Zoo to see him.

Read more about Knut:

Spiegel Online

BBC

Wikipedia

Moose killed by bear

2007-06-08T06:41:00.000+01:00

The local Norwegian newspaper "Romerikes Blad" has reported a moose found killed next to Busåstjern close to Nordre Mangen in the county of Aurskog-Høland.

Normally bears are not able to kill moose, because the moose will run away in time or also get the upper hand in the struggle.

It was suggested that the moose was already injured or sick and in this way was slowed down and killed.

See pictures on the RB local newspaper homepage:

http://www.rb.no/lokale_nyheter/article2796912.ece

You can also watch another real incidence on YouTube from someone that filmed a bear killing a moose in their driveway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap4A2A_3WJY

Space Moose

2007-06-08T06:25:00.000+01:00

Not a story about Norwegian moose in particular, but it's funny to see how much fascination the "king of the woods" can create. Space Moose is an underground comic strip that appeared in the University of Alberta's student newspaper, The Gateway, between 1989 and 1999. Almost all the strips were penned by Adam Thrasher, a biomedical engineering student at the university.

This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... The University of Alberta is situated along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River in the heart of the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ... The Gateway is the student newspaper at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Biomedical engineering is a discipline concerned with the development and manufacture of prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices, drugs and other therapies. ...

The strip follows the adventures of Space Moose, an anthropomorphic, nihilistic, pansexual moose with asymmetrical eyes and a Star Trek uniform, as he violates every behavioral norm and societal taboo he can find. His roommates Marlo Smefner, Billy the Badger, and Bald Dwarf are often the accomplices or victims of his actions. The strip often focused on scatological or sexual themes and often seemed to delight in tweaking readers' sensibilities; as a result, Thrasher found himself in hot water on several occasions.

In February and March 1997, Space Moose ran for student council president and finished a close third with 1400 votes (only 11 votes behind the second place candidate). This led to changes being made in student union rules that would prevent any future "joke" candidate from actually winning an election. February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ...

A book collection, Triumph of the Whim, was published privately, also in 1997. Most strips are available on the Space Moose web site.

New Albino-Moose spotted and filmed in Norway

2007-05-27T09:29:00.000+01:00

Moose in Space !

2007-04-20T13:20:00.000+01:00

The fist Scandinavian in space, Christer Fuglesang (Norwegian father, Swedish mother), took some local food along on his trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Mr. Fuglesang served dried moose meat to his fellow astronauts, who reportedly were happy with the taste of real Scandinavian wildlife food. If the taste is conceived as different in weightless condition compared to more normal circumstances is unknown.

Mr. Fuglesang in space (eating moose-meat?)

Fuglesang was part of a crew that travelled to the ISS on NASA’s Discovery space shuttle in early December 2006, to do repairs on the station and conduct research experiments.

His surname Fuglesang means bird song in Norwegian.

Links:

NASA Biography

ESA Biography

Norwegian Fjords

2007-04-19T13:22:00.000+01:00

Norway has the highest concentration of fjords in the world – and nowhere on earth are there more (and more beautiful fjords) than in Western Norway. For this reason, the region is commonly referred to as “Fjord Norway”.

Here is a list of the longest fjords in Norway:

Sognefjorden (Solund–Skjolden) 204Km
Hardangerfjorden (Bømlo–Odda) 179Km
Trondheimsfjorden (Agdenes–Steinkjer) 126Km
Porsangerfjorden (Sværholtklubben–Brennelv) 123Km
Storfjorden (Hareidlandet–Geiranger) 110Km
Nordfjord (Husevågøy–Loen) 106Km
Oslofjorden (Færder–Oslo) 100Km

UNESCO has included the fjords of Norway, exemplified by two of them, on its renowned World Heritage List. The Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord now enjoy the same recognition as the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Zambia’s Victoria Falls and the Grand Canyon in USA

The purpose of UNESCO’s World Heritage List is to draw attention to parts of humanity’s heritage that are so important, and have such outstanding universal value, that they must be preserved for future generations.

Amazingly, this is Norway’s first natural attraction on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In addition, five cultural attractions have been found worthy: Bryggen (the old Hanseatic wharf in Bergen), the 12th century Urnes stave church, the petroglyphs at Alta and the old mining town of Røros – and last year the Vegan Archipelago was added. The first two are located in Fjord Norway, the western part of the country.

About 10,000 years ago the Scandinavian land mass started to rise up as enormous glacial ice started to melt. The lower parts of the valleys became flooded, and so created what we today know as the fjords. The valley was originally not only made through glacial erosion but by the high pressure melting water which pushed its way beneath the ice.

The Nærøyfjord is perhaps the most spectacular arm of the Sognefjord and the narrowest fjord in the world, at one point only 250 metres with mountains towering 1800 m above its tranquil waters. The Geirangerfjord, farther north, is known for its pristine beauty and magnificent waterfalls. Fittingly, UNESCO finds not just these bodies of seawater, but the entire landscapes, worthy of preservation. Peering down onto the fjords from fertile mountain ledges there are farms, some of them still in use.

Some links:

Panoramic Images of Norwegian Fjords

Fjords in Flickr

And in YouTube

Norwegian Elkhound - the Moose Dog

2007-04-18T12:32:00.000+01:00

The Norwegian Elkhound is the national dog of Norway, and is used to hunt large game, such as wolf, bear and moose. The meaning of the direct translation of the Norwegian name "Elghund", means Moose Dog, and the term Elkhound is actually a mistranslation because it does not hunt like a hound dog (as of American terms), but it's goal is to hold the moose at bay while the hunters go into position to shoot it.

The dog is of ancient origin, and has been actively used in hunting since the beginning of the stone-age. The Elkhounds are very loyal to its masters, and has a very loud bark that also makes it suitable as a guard-dog. As they are bred for hunting, they have a very strong drive and are particularly good tracking dogs.

Norwegian Elkhound has a thick coat which makes it very suitable for the cold climate in Scandinavia and keep them warm in very low temperatures.

Wildlife and hiking opportunities in Norway.

2007-04-17T16:39:00.000+01:00

Norway can offer perhaps the most accessible but yet untouched nature in Europe with all its wildlife and national parks. In this country you will encounter raw landscapes raging from high mountain peaks, deep fjords and endless forests. And who knows, perhaps you will be so lucky to see a moose?!

Traditional Norwegian house structure

But everyone say it's so expensive ! Well, it all depends on what your requirements are. You will probably not need any alcohol (or at least a limited amount) if you are going hiking in the mountains, so no need to stand in queue in the extremely expensive state alcohol shop "Vinmonopolet". Then, what is left is paying for food, accommodation and transportation.

Accommodation: Hotel-prices more or less the same as the rest of Western-Europe, and you can do some great savings doing advance booking on the internet. Then you have the possibility to go camping, which is a great alternative if you do not mind skipping the shower for some days. Yet, the alternative that I would recommend is to sign up with the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT) which owns a big amount of cabins of all sizes scattered around all over Norway with fairly comfortable standards. DNT has more than 210,000 members, most in Norway, but one in ten abroad.

Food: Restaurants are definitely expensive compared to European standards, but still it's possible to have a good dinner starting at around 15EUR. Supermarket-prices are very much similar to the rest of Europe, only meat and milk products being a bit more expensive.

Transportation: With key airports and cities basically in every corner, it's not difficult to get around at all. Prices for flights are very competitive, and the regional domestic routes are even below many other comparable European routes. Train can be slow, and if you rent a car keep in mind the nature of Norway consists of mostly mountains and valleys so the driving-conditions might be a bit different from what you are used to. Public transportation can be a fun way to explore the native culture, but requires a bit more time and patience and you get less flexibility than renting a car (or bringing your own).

Solitary Animals

2007-04-17T16:07:00.000+01:00

Feel like going on a moose-safari? The moose is the the largest deer living a solitary life browsing in the northern forests. So if you are so lucky to see a real moose, you are more than likely to see a single one. Unless you encounter it during the mating season or a mother with her calf of course. The strongest bond between moose is that of a mother to her calf. Though solitary, moose populations tend to follow the same migratory trends. During breeding season, moose congregate together as they look for a mate.

Occasionally, during deep winter, small herds will form and help pack down the snow so they can move around. Male moose, bulls, compete for females in elaborate shoving matches. Occasionally fatal wounds are received. In general, moose are not aggressive towards people. However, female moose are very protective of their calves and will charge if you get to close. Also, moose in general are very predictable and, while they usually do not charge humans, there is not guarantee that a moose will not.

Trysil - biggest moose area in Norway

2007-04-15T22:56:00.000+01:00

Besides being the place where the worlds first ski competition was held in 1855 Trysil has Norway's biggest ski-resort Trysilfjellet.

Coat of Arms of Trysil - two ski poles.

The moose density is among the biggest in Scandinavia, and during the hunting season more than 1000 moose are killed. Farming and lumbering are traditionally the most important occupations in the municipality, and there are many wood related industries. The Trysilelva river was the last river in Norway with traditional timber floating. There is extensive wildlife, including brown bear.

During the second world-war, the King and government was located in Trysil for a short while and were bombed by the advancing German forces in the village of Nybergsund in Trysil. This was also the location where King Haakon gave his firm and famous NO against collaborating with the Nazis. A stone monument was erected at the site of the bombing (see picture below).

Moose Traffic Signs

2007-04-14T23:51:00.000+01:00

Moose can be extremely dangerous for car-drivers during the dark winter-season in the northern hemisphere. Icy roads and very limited daylight is a dangerous combination especially in periods with heavy snowfall when the animals need to look for food more desperately often close to roads and urban areas.

You can see examples of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish moose signs in a previous post. Here are the moose signs for the US and Canada:

Moose warning Canada

Moose sign USA

Want to vote for the best moose sign ?

Shoot the albino moose ? Turmoil in Norway

2007-04-14T23:06:00.000+01:00

When an albino moose turned up in the county of Østfold south-east in Norway, it got massive attention from national newspapers and television and sparked a debate whether it was right to shoot it straight away in the upcoming hunting-season, or if it should somehow be protected.

Photo from local Kirsten Foss Hansen

"It is surely entertaining to have an albino moose wandering in the woods but in purely breeding terms it is not right to let it live," Morten Brommdal, manager of the animal section at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Oslo told Moss Avis.

It didn't take long before also the international press started writing about the story. The German magazine Spiegel as well as Spanish and British newspapers picked up on the story.

Jon Arnemo, professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH), agreed that the albino moose was a rarity, though not a sensation. These animals are rarely very old. Their lack of pigmentation makes them more exposed to predators like wolves and they often have inferior sight or hearing.

So what happened actually with the albino moose ? Well, there were no official ban on shooting it during the annual hunting-season, and several hunters reported to have the moose in sight, but everyone seemed to follow their heart and let him go.... so out of the 450,000 strong moose-population in Scandinavia we probably still have a white-furred moose walking around in our woods.

Abercrombie & Fitch Moose

2007-04-14T08:28:00.000+01:00

The casual luxury clothes retailer Abercrombie & Finch brand name displays a moose, not known if of North-American, Scandinavian or Russian origin, but as a big fan of Norwegian Moose we will of course draw our own conclusions.

Founded in 1892, the company was for many decades mainly an elite excursion goods retailer. After many years of success, the company struggled financially from the late 1960s until it was purchased by The Limited in 1988 and repositioned as a lifestyle brand.

The company's clothing has also been the subject of criticism. In 2002, controversy erupted over shirts featuring caricatures of Asians and other ethnic groups. One shirt featured the slogan "Wong Brothers Laundry Service—Two Wongs Can Make It White" with smiling figures in conical hats, a 1900s popular-culture depiction of Chinese immigrants. The company discontinued the designs and apologized after a boycott by Asian-American student groups, such as Stanford.[13] That same year, the children's clothing division removed a line of thong underwear sold for girls in pre-teen children's sizes after parents mounted nationwide storefront protests. The underwear included

More T-shirt controversy occurred twice in 2004. The first incident involved a shirt featuring the phrase, "It's All Relative in West Virginia," an apparent jab at incest relations in rural America. West Virginia governor Bob Wise spoke out against the company for depicting "an unfounded, negative stereotype of West Virginia," but the shirts were not removed.

The second incident involved another t-shirt with the phrase "L is for Loser" written next to a picture of a male gymnast on the rings (the same shirt was worn by Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects in the music video for "Move Along."). The company stopped selling the shirt in October of 2004 after USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi announced a boycott of Abercrombie & Fitch for mocking the sport.

In November 2005, the Women & Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania launched a "girl-cott" of the store for selling T-shirts bearing phrases like "Who needs brains when you have these?" in reference to large breasts and dumb blondes. The campaign went national on NBC's The Today Show, and the company pulled the shirts from stores on November 5, 2005.

Bob Jones University and its affiliated precollegiate schools — Bob Jones Academy, Bob Jones Junior High School, and Bob Jones Elementary School — forbade Abercrombie & Fitch clothing from being "worn, carried, or displayed" on its campuses because of "an unusual degree of antagonism to the name of Christ and an unusual display of wickedness" in the company's advertising.

We in NorwegianMoose.Com suggest to focus more on the Moose-brand as this obviously is the best way by far to give a positive perception of a brand :-)

Ahh, and they actually have pretty nice clothes. Here is their site:

http://www.abercrombie.com/

Moose collisions

2007-04-06T16:59:00.000+01:00

A moose's body structure, with a large heavy body suspended on long spindly legs, makes these animals particularly dangerous when hit by motor vehicles. Such collisions are often fatal for both the moose and motorist.

Norwegian moose warning traffic sign.

All the accidents have led to the development of a vehicle test in Scandinavia referred to as the "moose test" (Älgtest). In an advertising campaign the Swedish car manufacturers Volvo and Saab warned people of buying Japanese cars by stating "There are no moose in Japan." Generally, upon impact the bumper of the car will break the moose's legs. The main body of the moose will then collide with the windshield, often with disastrous effect to both motorist and animal. In a collision of this nature, a car's airbags may not deploy or be of much use if they do.

Swedish Moose Warning Traffic Sign

Finnish moose warning traffic-sign.

Moose Hunting in Norway

2007-04-06T09:41:00.000+01:00

Moose hunting in Froland, Norway in the 1960s.

Most moose felled in Hedmark

21 per cent of all moose shot in Norway in the autumn 2006 were felled in the county of Hedmark. Regarding the number of hunting licenses and number of animals felled, Hedmark is the largest "moose county". 7 962 hunting licenses were issued, and 7 284 animals were felled, resulting in a felling ratio of 91. In the counties of Nord-Trøndelag and Telemark 5 039 and 3 025 moose were felled respectively.

Moose History

2007-04-06T09:27:00.000+01:00

The picture above shows stoneage Petroglyphs from Møllerstufossen i Oppland in Norway.

The first written description of the elk is in Julius Cæsar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, where it is described thus:

"There are also animals which are called alces. The shape of these, and the varied color of their skins, is much like roes, but in size they surpass them a little and are without horns, and have legs without joints and ligatures; nor do they lie down for the purpose of rest, nor, if they have been thrown down by any accident, can they raise or lift themselves up. Trees serve as beds to them; they lean themselves against them, and thus reclining only slightly, they take their rest; when the huntsmen have discovered from the footsteps of these animals whither they are accustomed to betake themselves, they either undermine all the trees at the roots, or cut into them so far that the upper part of the trees may appear to be left standing. When they have leant upon them, according to their habit, they knock down by their weight the unsupported trees, and fall down themselves along with them."