Moose

Who of us hasn’t loaded the kids in the car after supper and trundled up to our favorite bog in hopes of spotting one of these magnificent animals?  Images of moose are as iconic as the cry of the loon when we conjure memories of our times in these western mountains of Maine.  

Maine boasts the largest population of moose in the Lower 48. Ours is the eastern or Taiga moose, one of the four subspecies found in North America. Ridiculously leggy and awkward looking, moose are about nine feet long and six feet tall at the shoulder. A large bull can weigh over 1300 pounds and have a massive six foot spread of antlers. 

Moose browse on the leaves and twigs of woody plants, as well as on aquatic plants such as pondweed and water lily.  A nursing cow must eat over 60 pounds of food a day!

Maine’s moose population has been hit hard in recent years by the winter tick, causing numbers to drop from 76,000 five years ago to between 60-70,000 in 2019. Winter ticks attach themselves to moose in the fall and feed on them throughout the winter, causing severe emaciation and often death.  Calves are hit especially hard and a single moose might be host to more than 50,000 ticks. 

Warming temperatures associated with climate change is the primary reason for the surge in winter ticks. With warm fall days persisting later in the season, the amount of time that winter ticks have to find their hosts has been extended.  (You may be relieved to know that winter ticks rarely bite humans).   

So, regretfully, there’s a reason that we haven’t been seeing as many moose in our favorite bog….