We love ourselves some Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose—make no mistake—but still, there are a few teeny-tiny details about Thidwick's story that just don't sit well with the zoologist deep inside us. Yes, we know it's a children's story, but here are a few facts about moose that you won't otherwise learn in Seuss's poem:

• Moose don't talk. There we said it. Glad we got that straightened out.
• Moose do not eat only moose-moss. They are very tall, and it can be a real pain in the neck to lower their heads to have a mossy nibble, so they snack on high grasses, scrubs, aquatic plants, and pine cones whenever possible. They will dine on mosses and lichens, though, especially in the winter.
• Moose are good swimmers, just like the book shows. We'll give Seuss that. And like in the book, they will make seasonal travel to wintering areas.
• Moose groupings are called herds; it's true. However, moose are generally solitary creatures, especially the males. A moose herd of sixty males? We're going with no.
• In the summer, a bull moose can grow antlers as large as six feet from end to end. Even so, we're guessing a black bear, which can weight up to 350 pounds, won't find these antlers a comfy place to chill.

There you go. Some moose fun facts to go with your moosey fun poem. (Source.)

Every famous writer is asked where he or she gets ideas for stories. Most of them answer with stuff like: "I read a lot" or "I travel a lot" or "I just spend a lot of time thinking and dreaming." And you know they're lying, just trying to keep the rest of us from their super-secret story stash. But Dr. Seuss was no liar. He told the whole world straight up where he got his story ideas:

There is a little town called "Gletch" and two thousand feet up above Gletch there is a smaller hamlet called "Uber Gletch". I go there on the fourth of August every summer to get my cuckoo clock repaired. While the cuckoo is in the hospital I wander around and talk to the people in the streets. They are very strange people and I get my ideas from them. (Source.)

Road trip, anyone?

Let's end the argument now. Until further notice, the plural for moose is, well, moose. Not mooses, not meese, and certainly not meeses (we're starting to sound a bit like Seuss ourselves here). It's just plain old moose. Look it up in any dictionary, and check it out yourself. (Source.)

Thidwick and his friends may hang their hats—er, antlers—at Lake Winna-Bango, but this doesn't mean they don't travel abroad now and again. In fact, Thidwick was featured in a Russian animated short film titled Welcome. Directed by Alexei Karaev, this 1986 film is composed of some truly beautiful paint-on-glass animation. It follows its Seuss source material pretty faithfully, too, although the character design is unique and its ending is different too. You can watch it on YouTube (fair warning: the subtitles are in Spanish) here. (Source.)