They spend most of their lives wading in swamps with the water up to their bellies. Primary diet is waterlily roots. Remember, you are what you eat, so shooting a moose gets you a trophy to hang over your fireplace and little meat fit to eat. It's an acquired taste as it's reminiscent of rotting vegetation. Of course you can grind it up for sausage but few really need 1500 pounds of sausage.
I grew up in northeast Wisconsin, just south of Iron Mountain MI. Snow got to be a lot more fun when the snowmobile (AKA snow machine) was developed. Cold didn't seem so bad either if you dressed properly (layered look to be sure). We have four seasons just like the rest of the lower 48: almost Winter, Winter, still Winter & 3 months of really bad skiing conditions AKA road repair!
If you try Copper Harbor (northern end of US Highway 41) in January or February, you just might see 35 to 40 feet of snow on the ground!
I left at 18 and moved to go to college in Milwaukee, got two degrees and stayed in SE WI. I missed the north woods (God's Country) but finding a good paying job was nearly impossible.
Regards,
GtG
PS No moose in Wisconsin, we do have some good sized white tailed deer, smallish black bear, and the DNR has been releasing gray wolves. Trout fishing is a pretty good way to wile away the summers.
The bears are not so “smallish” anymore:
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2014/09/bear-hunt-in-northern-wisconsin.html
Every year the DNR weighs several over 500 lbs.
Most people that I know who have tried Moose say that it is delicious.