[fishnguy]

Moved here from another thread to keep it in one place, I guess (and not to “pollute” in the other thread):

Originally Posted by Sooner

I have a friend with property up in 348. He said last year, moose all over, this year, nada. Ticks took a lot out last winter from what he seen on his place. Sure sucks. I am seeing it east of Edmonton where my moose draw is. Noticeable lack of moose numbers compared to the last couple years.

Good luck though. Lots of November left. The snow should help.

Originally Posted by depopulator

There was a major winter tick moose die off in 348, at least in the local area of our land which borders crown northwest of Chip Lake. We found 4 dead 1-3 year old bulls (all bulls) this spring (May-June) within less than 1/2 mile of our land. If the rest of the unit experienced a similar die-off from what we found locally, I would think it will be tough finding one.

Originally Posted by fishnguy

I was told by a prof that there was a major moose die off in Alberta last winter-spring and it was a first in many years. I can only find the records of the previous ones (late 80’s and 98-99), but nothing of this past season yet.

The main reason are winter ticks. Many of you probably read my threads about the ticks and they are a major problem around these parts and many others. I am not seeing much moose around here this season in places where I usually see plenty.

The last two years the ticks were insane and this die off was predictable. This year is significantly worse - I have found them in various quantities everywhere I went, literally, every place with a couple of exceptions. My guess is there will be even less moose next year yet. Some places have close to 100% mortality in calves and significant decrease in moose population as a result, in particular northeastern United States and Maritimes here in Canada. Shorter winters and longer summers probably play a significant role in these developments. Last two years snow cover here was gone before the end of March. There is very little stopping these things from hatching by millions. Each female can lay over five thousands eggs and a moose would host about 35,000 ticks on average with more infested ones hosting over 60K before they, in many cases, expire. You do the math. I can collect as many within an hour or two on myself when in the bush (if I try, I can do it a lot faster than an hour too, lol). Moose live in that habitat. It’s a real problem and something’s gotta give. It appears that either we will have some “normal” winters or moose population will take a huge hit in some or many areas of the province (some probably already did). My guess is first nations’ harvest is nothing in comparison to this problem.

Originally Posted by FortMac

Would this be what's decimating the caribou herds around North America?

Nope. That’s a different issue. These guys overwhelmingly prefer moose for their “home”. They do infest deer, elk, and caribou to a much smaller degree; they have also been found on bears, beavers (!), goats and sheep, bison, wolves and coyotes.

It seems the only way to reduce the population of these nasties is by either removing moose or controlled burns of the areas. Can’t burn the whole river valleys other best moose habitat and, it appears, they remove moose on their own pretty well. So there isn’t much we can do about it. Snow helps a lot because when females drop off the host in March-April and fall on snow, they aren’t likely to survive to lay the eggs. Since there hasn’t been much/any snow that time of year for the past few years, we have what we have. My guess is that in all likelihood, moose population will be thinned out greatly before it gets better (does it get better?) because warmer springs with less or no snow are likely here to stay. We will see what happens.