If you live in Canada, the Baltics or the northern states, the chances are you’re fairly familiar with one hefty animal in particular.

The moose.

If not? For those of us living in warmer climates, or even temperate places like the UK, moose (yes that’s right, moose, not mooses or meese) are as extraordinary as polar bears or, say, unicorns.

The idea of having to stop your car to avoid crashing into 700 kilos of pure muscle is an unusual concept to say the least.

But even if you see a moose a day, there’s probably a lot about them that you don’t know.

You know they’re fantastic at running, reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, but did you know that they also love to swim?

In fact, despite being land animals, moose (or elk as they’re known in Europe) are excellent swimmers, reaching up to 6 miles per hour. Impressive when you’re so heavy.

That’s because, being vegetarian, these massive deer like to dive for aquatic plants too. On land they eat twigs and leaves.

So why do they have such a reputation for being dangerous, if they only eat plants?

Well because their heckin’ bulk means they’re not great to crash into. Drive into a moose at speed and while the moose might survive, you and your vehicle may not.

While moose aren’t threatened as a species – in fact, there are over 1.5 million of them across North America, and northern Europe – they are predated upon by other large mammals including grizzly bears, wolves, and sometimes, incredibly, orca.

It’s not unheard of for humans to eat moose meat too, with the taste described as somewhere between beef and venison, and the Government of the Northwest Territories even recommending it in a factsheet.

But just because you can doesn’t mean you should – and the world would be a better place if we all followed the moose’s diet.

Thought that was fascinating? Here’s another story you might like: Why You’ll Never See A Great White Shark In An Aquarium