Climate change-emboldened ticks are killing off moose in Maine

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The state is experiencing the worst recorded die-off of calves so far.

, “You look at one data sheet after another of what we found in the woods on these moose and it’s the same profile every time: it is winter tick.” Sixty of 70 calves collared in the fall did not survive their first year., or moose ticks, which scientists first documented in Maine in the 1930s, prey mostly on moose. In autumn, their larvae form large interlocking clusters on forest vegetation. As moose wander the woods far and wide during the fall breeding season, the clusters cling to them.

Winter, though, has traditionally limited the damage that winter ticks inflict on moose. Early fall snow or cold snaps kill many of the larvae before they find a host. Late spring snow can also kill many eggs. Climate change, however, has been a boon for the ticks—and a bane for the moose.: “The winters have shortened and the falls are longer, which means longer time for those ticks to quest and actively seek their host, which means have accumulated much more on them.

Some moose end up with infestations of over 100,000 ticks. A century ago, Maine’s moose population had dwindled, mostly due to overhunting, to around 2,000. But conservation efforts since then have restored the official state animal’s number to over 70,000. Maine carefully manages its moose, using helicopters to locate and collar them, and establishing different hunting regulations in 21 distinct districts.

 

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Thanks for making the connection for me so that I dont have to think.

deers and moose always was infested with ticks, but climate change make it more profitable, thats the reason we presented with problem and no solutions

Some moose end up with infestations of over 100,000 ticks.

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