Ticks Are Sucking the Life From Maine's Moose

The state will see if allowing hunters to kill more moose than usual can help
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2021 12:47 PM CDT
Maine's Plan to Save Its Moose Involves Killing Them
   (Getty Images)

Biologists in Maine think the best way to save its 65,000-strong moose population might be to kill off more of it, and they're engaging in an experiment to that end. As the Wall Street Journal explains, moose are currently dying at the hands of ticks, and climate change plays a big role. The Bangor Daily News reports those ticks spend winter feeding on the moose. If winter lasts long enough, they fall off and die in the snow; if it doesn't, they fall off come spring "to lay eggs for the next generation." Moose habitually spend mating season in that same area, so they serve as host for the larvae hatched from those eggs." One more fact: Most animals groom themselves; moose are particularly bad at it.

The confluence of all these factors? One moose can end up as carrier to as many as 90,000 ticks, some of which swell to a size bigger than a blueberry. The blood is quite literally sucked out of them, though some end up so weak they're killed off by invading parasites. The biologists' theory is that reducing the moose population will therefore reduce the tick population by causing baby ticks to starve, which will drive up overall moose health. To test it, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has doled out an increased number of hunting permits for half of one 2,000-acre parcel where moose hunting is allowed. Biologists will analyze the health of moose inside and outside the test area.

As you can imagine, PETA is among those who are displeased with the plan: "Shooting moose to 'protect' them from ticks so that these magnificent animals can be hunted later for 'sport' is out of touch with most people’s values today." It may not have much to worry about. The Bangor Daily News reports thus far only 67% of permitted hunters have managed to shoot a moose, raising the possibility that 2021 will end up having one of the lowest harvest rates since the hunt was sponsored by the state in 1980. (These hunters in Norway accidentally shot two moose in a zoo.)

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