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Motorists in Florida occasionally need to keep an eye out for 12-foot, 463-pound alligators hanging out on the side of the road. Canadians have a different problem: moose that are addicted to licking road salt off of cars.

It sounds silly, like a winter-themed urban legend or some strange outgrowth of an overactive imagination, but it's a real problem that some drivers deal with on a shockingly regular basis. It's common enough that Canadian officials need to put up signs to remind motorists that road salt is not a normal part of a well-balanced moose diet.

"I hate to say it, but this road salt is kind of like crack [to moose]," explained Joe Urie, the owner of the Jasper Tour Company, in an interview with the CBC. Moose can lick the salt off of the tarmac, but they've learned that it's just as delicious -- and probably more concentrated -- if it comes off of a car's body panels, so they approach motorists. It's a problem that's becoming increasingly common as the moose population grows (it's inversely proportional to the wolf population, which is declining), and as moose become more and more comfortable around humans.

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