Winter ticks killed a higher share of moose calves in northwestern Maine this winter than at any time since state biologists began conducting radio-collar moose research in 2014.
The outcomes of this winter’s research are regarding to wildlife officers throughout northern New England, however Maine biologists are hopeful that measures to lower moose density within the research space might end in a more healthy herd.
Sixty of 70 radio-collared calves – or 86 p.c – in Wildlife Administration District 4 died because of winter ticks, mentioned Maine Wildlife Division Director Nate Webb. The research is now in its third yr in northwestern Maine. Beforehand, the moose-collar research was carried out round Moosehead Lake and much northern Maine.
“We’ve had different years when calf mortality was within the 70-percent vary,” Webb mentioned. “And calf mortality naturally fluctuates from yr to yr. We don’t really feel this one excessive yr is essentially a sign that the speed we did observe will proceed into the longer term. Our hope is that this yr is an anomaly, and we do imagine it’s.
“It’s a concern. But it surely factors to the necessary work being achieved in WMD 4 within the adaptive hunt to attempt to decide if we are able to scale back the influence of winter tick on moose.”
Final yr, the state gave out a further 550 cow moose permits in a piece of the looking district, now known as WMD 4A, which is north of Moosehead Lake and west of Baxter State Park alongside the Canadian border. Wildlife officers needed to check the speculation that an elevated harvest in an remoted space over 5 years will assist to lower the winter tick parasite. These further permits will probably be allotted once more this yr in what officers name an adaptive hunt.
In March, state moose biologist Lee Kantar mentioned his general impression of the adaptive hunt’s first yr was optimistic, although it could take 5 years to check the speculation.
Winter tick infestation is exacerbated by a warming local weather, in keeping with the Maine Division of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The parasite now survives in higher numbers in Maine’s core moose vary than ever earlier than, IFW reported. As well as, a College of Maine research confirmed that winters are two weeks shorter on common than 30 years in the past.
In 2012, IFW reported that Maine’s moose inhabitants was about 76,000. The herd is now estimated at 60,000 to 70,000, Webb mentioned, including that in some components of the state moose densities are as excessive as 5 to eight per sq. mile.
“That’s far increased than you sometimes discover throughout moose vary throughout the continent,” Webb mentioned. “Sometimes moose are someplace round one moose per sq. mile in Alaska and Canada. The density in Maine is sort of excessive.
“Mainly what we’re hoping is to incrementally deliver the moose density right down to see if there’s a corresponding response within the inhabitants with calf survival. I don’t assume in all chance we’ll deliver the density to at least one moose per sq. mile. However we hope to deliver it down fairly a bit.”
Webb pointed to New York for example, the place there are low moose densities within the Adirondack Mountains and really minimal influence of winter tick.
Outcomes of this winter’s radio-collar survey in northwestern Maine had been first reported by Maine Public Radio.
MORTALITY CONCERNS NEIGHBORS
In New Hampshire, biologists are involved with the excessive calf mortality in Maine – significantly as a result of a radio-collar research carried out there from 2014-19 discovered a mortality charge increased than 60 p.c for 5 of the six years, mentioned Dan Bergeron, New Hampshire Fish and Recreation’s wildlife division director.
“We’ve had a lot of years after we’ve seen a excessive mortality in our calves. We’ve documented mortality as excessive as 80 p.c,” Bergeron mentioned. “Moose calf mortality usually is round 20 to 30 p.c.”
The moose inhabitants in New Hampshire is estimated at 3,000 to three,500 moose, although the very best densities of moose are just one.6 per sq. mile, Bergeron mentioned.
“By and enormous we nonetheless see a decline in moose, but it surely’s slowed,” Bergeron mentioned.
The excessive calf mortality in northeastern Maine additionally issues biologists in Vermont, the place a radio-collar research was carried out from 2017 to 2019. Nick Fortin, Vermont’s deer and moose research chief, believes the decline in moose numbers there has stopped.
“It’s regarding as a result of we all know the tick numbers and influence ebbs and flows equally throughout the entire area. So a nasty yr in Maine is a nasty yr right here in Vermont. That mentioned, we have now no proof that it was a nasty yr in Vermont. We really feel our moose herd has type of stabilized,” Fortin mentioned.
Ten years in the past the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Division deliberately decreased the moose herd – however not due to winter tick. Moose had been over-browsing and destroying the habitat, Fortin mentioned, so the state made a concerted effort to skinny the herd. The end result: Within the northeastern nook of Vermont, the place there are the very best densities of moose, the inhabitants is steady, he mentioned.
“It’s necessary to notice,” Fortin mentioned, “that our space of highest moose density remains to be significantly decrease than the density of moose in northern and western Maine. So there are some totally different dynamics at play. The decrease density moose would possibly assist hold the variety of ticks down.”
“Moose are positively impacted by winter ticks (right here). However our present understanding, like all moose managers within the Northeast, is that in the event you scale back the variety of moose, you scale back the variety of ticks.”
On Wednesday, the variety of proposed moose permits for Maine’s fall hunt – 4,080 – was authorised by the IFW Advisory Council. The whole permits will improve barely from final yr, with 50 extra going to a looking district round Moosehead Lake.
Maine biologists additionally proposed 96,340 antlerless deer permits for the autumn hunt within the new deer-permit format that was signed into regulation this spring. Nearly all of these permits allotted within the annual lottery are in southern and central Maine and the Midcoast area.
« Earlier
Associated Tales
Invalid username/password.
Please test your electronic mail to substantiate and full your registration.
Use the shape under to reset your password. Once you’ve submitted your account electronic mail, we are going to ship an electronic mail with a reset code.