Twig Eaters

The he mother and baby moose peered from the willow thicket as I drove past. The mother stopped chewing, weeds drooping from her mouth. Her tiny calf peeked shyly from between its mother’s front legs.

Moose, meaning “twig eaters,” are the largest living deer. The males grow heavy antlers up to seven feet across. They use these during the rut, a yearly time when bulls fight to win the right to breed with females. After the rut they shed their antlers, which small rodents gnaw on for minerals.

Moose eat up to 60 pounds of food a day. They have no upper front teeth, so they use their strong horselike lips to strip off juicy willow leaves and twigs. They also wade into lakes to find pond weeds and lilies, sometimes completely submerging themselves. During winter they eat willow twigs, bark, and plants that they can paw out from under the snow.

Because of their fibrous diet they have a four-chambered stomach and do lots of cud chewing. But finding food and digesting it takes almost all their time.

Are you also willing to work hard for what you need? to dig deep to learn important facts? to make yourself do what’s necessary to accomplish your goals? The Bible says, “Never tire of doing what is right.”

If you aren’t willing to work physically and mentally, you’ll eventually suffer for it. Your choices today affect tomorrow.

MISSION: Today, do your work more carefully than required.