Do moose eat seaberries?

I’m pretty sure they’ll try anything but does anybody knows if they would actually browse on it? I’m running out of space on the fenced area and I’m wondering if the sea berry could fend for itself out there… once it gets big enough I’m guessing it can put up with the occasional test nibble.

3 Likes

A strange fact I know “Seaberry’s Latin name means “shining horse”; legend has it that Genghis Khan fed his army’s horses seaberry before they entered into battle”

"Classical writings tell a curious tale! The ancient Greeks regularly fed sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) to their horses after witnessing the shrub’s effects on the horses’ coats.

The sea buckthorn is named after the coat enhancing properties, and it’s botanical name, hippophae rhamnoides, translates into “shiny horse”. While Pegasus may have gained the ability to soar, our horses benefit from the same earthly health perks as those steeds from antiquity.

The sea buckthorn plant and fruit contains a storehouse of antioxidants, unique oils and a laundry list of phytonutrients which are often missing or lost in the hay curing process."

“It is currently used as a food source because the berries contain levels of vitamins and nutrients unsurpassed by other species of fruit. Russian cosmonauts took seaberry juice into space and used the cream to protect against cosmic radiation. It is used in medicinal products to heal skin problems and in cosmetics to improve the user’s appearance. Research using bark extracts indicate it may inhibit tumor growth.”

I don’t know the moose will eat them but I know the moose will eat them if they get a chance if you know what i mean! Herbivores smell healthy 5 miles away!

2 Likes

I’m more concerned for the bush itself. Heck I love raspberries but I’m not about to start munching on the canes :wink:

For that matter most of the damage a moose do is winter browsing. In the summer time they grip a branch with their mouth at the base and strip it clean of leaves; the branch lives to leaf out another day. In the winter time is when they will eat the branch and the bush to the ground. If the tree is big enough and they are hungry enough they may eat the bark.

3 Likes

@don1357

It’s the shrub itself herbivores like horses like. I’m not sure specifically about a moose if he will strip leaves or eat it all but what I am sure of herbivores like deer , horses, cows munch on shoots, leaves, fruits etc…Hopefully someone has actual moose experience to give us more information.

1 Like

Seaberries sound like good goat graze … may need some outside my fence line

1 Like

@Reg

I planted about 50 once and they clung to life a few years then died in my soil. Autumn berry are like their replacement for me. I’m still looking for a seabery that can survive here. The juice is not all it’s cracked up to be. It tastes sort of like carrot juice mixed with turpentine to me. Not everyone apparently feels the same about the juice but buy some on Amazon drink it before you raise an acre of them unless they are strictly for the goats. I’ve no doubt in my mind they are very healthy just like aronias or elderberries! I eat a dozen fresh aronia every year then I’m done but I have acres of them.

1 Like

It’s a pity to waste ll those antioxidants and vitamins, Clark. See if you can make a few bottles of fruit shurbs at least, it will preserve said vitamins for the year, and give you a nice drink with cold sparkling water added. If aronia is not sweet enough, you can mix with other overripe or misshapen fruits. You can also crank the sugar a bit.

3 Likes

@glib

I drink aronia 40:1 with apple juice which tastes like grape juice. Have a lot of aronias! Don’t want to hijack this thread as seaberry certainly are ultra healthy in a very different way. The seaberries i had make aronia or elderberry taste like candy.

3 Likes

why i got rid of mine. that and they are a pain to pick. at least aronia are easy and not as fragile as the seaberries… the question to ask here does anyone growing them have deer browse them? if so moose probably will also.

1 Like

just finished my low sugar jam of 50/50 aronia/ b. currant. anxiously waiting for this years b. currants to ripen so i can make more. going to make juice also. glad ive finally found a use for aronia. sorry. didnt mean to hijack. :wink:

2 Likes

To contribute to the highjacking of my own thread I do like aronia a lot. My best cheesecake recipe is with chokecherry. It also works great on the balsamic vinegar sauce I make for a dry aged steak with blue cheese crust.

Anyways… I just want to put a few bushes down for my plant library. I propagate for fun and profit and if the thorns on these are protection enough against moose it would make them very popular.

3 Likes

if youre going to do that get the older more thorny cultivars. voles like the bark when young so get some trunk protectors. hardware cloth buruied a few in. down is best. ive had the buggers get under the plastic ones and girdle the tree under the soil line.

2 Likes

well, when even the OP hijiacks it’s over. And yes, tart berries sauces (and vinaigrettes) are very worthy of preparation. I do love the ease of picking that aronia offers. My seaberries are covered with berries, but picking them is a pain.

2 Likes

That would be my recommendation as well. Get the super thorny varieties. I planted a few seaberries in my front yard but they all died before the moose ate them.

I have some really thorny gooseberries out front and they only suffered light moose damage.

2 Likes

@moose: You had bad luck growing things in your neck of the woods. What is your soil like?

I think seaberries are generally very palatable to animals. I have observed that sheep will eat the foliage, sapsuckers can girdle them with excessive drilling and rodents will chew off their roots.

1 Like

Picking seaberries is tedious, as the average pluck yields just 3 or 4 small berries. I found that pinching off the thorn tips, that have very predictable locations on the branch, reduced the pain level.

1 Like

iused to prune off the thorns as they formed so by time picking came around there weren’t any.

Rock, clay, and sand. After many failures I have a trick that works- dig a big hole and fill it with rich potting soil. The plants seem to do great in that. The new age garden advice shuns that method- “use the local soil and don’t backfill with potting soil”…but that method only works if you have decent soil to begin with. If I planted seaberries today I would definitely backfill with potting soil, and they would live. And then the moose would probably munch on them :slight_smile:

1 Like

I have also found that they appreciate rich soil. However, I’m about to give up on growing them in good soil and switch to growing them in poor compact soil. I’m tired of rodents taking advantage of the loose soil to access the roots. I just pulled one out that had been in ground about three years and it had almost no roots.