Ticks Kill 50 Percent Of Moose Calves In Maine, But That’s Not The Case In The Rest Of North America

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — For more than a decade, Mainers have learned more than they ever thought they would have to learn about a small creepy-crawly that has had a tremendous impact on moose — especially young moose trying to make it through their first winter. Research by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has confirmed that winter ticks are moose killers, and in some years, more than 50 percent of moose calves in the research study have succumbed after serving as hosts to thousands of ticks. At the North American Moose Conference, a gathering of moose researchers that was held at the Sugarloaf resort this week, biologists from other states and provinces shared their own views on ticks, global climate change that has helped ticks thrive and other threats to the moose herds that they manage. And while winter ticks aren’t a universal threat, moose are facing a variety of other threats in different ecosystems. Glenn DelGuidice of Minnesota, who serves as the moose and deer project leader for that state’s Forest Wildlife Unit, said that unlike Maine, where calves seem to fare pretty well until later in the winter when the effect of the ticks builds up, Minnesota loses its calves earlier. “We had a very high neo-nate mortality.