Did you know that moose are in such a sharp decline in the U.S. that Minnesota stopped giving out hunting permits for them? Or that an adult moose can be killed by ticks? (Yes, ticks – some moose are covered by as much as 100,000 ticks!)
Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why moose are dying at such a high rate, but it is hard to do with a necropsy because they have such high fat content that they decompose too much in 24 hours to tell their story.
Ticks could be one factor: with less snowy winters, tick infestations become much more severe (you should check out my other post about ticks if you’re interested in finding out more), but so could brain worms, heat stress, and pine bark beetles. Climate change links these together.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html
Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly why moose are dying at such a high rate, but it is hard to do with a necropsy because they have such high fat content that they decompose too much in 24 hours to tell their story.
Ticks could be one factor: with less snowy winters, tick infestations become much more severe (you should check out my other post about ticks if you’re interested in finding out more), but so could brain worms, heat stress, and pine bark beetles. Climate change links these together.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/earth/something-is-killing-off-the-moose.html
Photo from: http://northcountryblog.com/local-fare/im-so-pretty
You can see from the photo that this moose is losing its fur from scratching or biting and all the little dots on its shoulder are ticks. It is starting to look pale - what people call a ghost moose.
You can see from the photo that this moose is losing its fur from scratching or biting and all the little dots on its shoulder are ticks. It is starting to look pale - what people call a ghost moose.