Ticking moose bomb
BY SCOTT HADDOW
Wild Northerner staff
There’s a moose mystery trying to be solved in Wildlife Management Unit 28.
Kirkland District Game and Fish Protective Association president Dan England, and volunteers from the association, are working with the MNRF to get to the bottom of a supposed moose decline population in the area that has had a harsh effect on the towns and people living in the region.
“Up until a few years ago, this was one of the best moose hunting areas in the province,” England said. “Historically, one of the best. It has taken a severe hit and no one knows why. We are trying to find the problem. In the 90s, we use to have 1000 tags. Now, we are down to 30. These are based on bad numbers surveys done by the ministry. We can’t argue. There are a lot of moose still here. I know this has had a big social and economic impact on the area.”
The KDGFPA and MNRF combined forces two years ago to conduct winter tick surveys. It was an idea pitched by past KDGFPA president and life-long member, Bob Allen. It rose from winter tick surveys done in the United States, which were done in the past to assess hair loss on moose through observations along road networks.
In 2015, surveys were done from April 27 to May 14 on road routes. In total, 36 moose were observed, but only 33 were able to be assessed for tick hair loss. Overall, half of the moose assessed
showed no signs of hair loss, and half
showed signs of light to moderate hair loss. None of the moose observed showed severe or worst- case tick infestation signs. These surveys are the first of their kind in Ontario for this type of assessment.
The crew, some 30 strong, was out again this spring, in April-May, with help from the Timiskaming Anglers and Hunters Association, and travelled 16 routes to observe, photograph and record moose in order to rank them for hair loss, tick infestation, and overall body condition. The KDGFPA provided the funding for the surveys.
The data from 2016 is still being analyzed. There were 28 moose in total observed and recorded for hair loss.
“An initial review of the data showed that moose observed in 2016 showed a greater amount of hair loss overall compared to 2015,” MNRF Regional Outreach Specialist Karen Passmore said. “Data collected from the roadside surveys will be used in conjunction with aerial moose hair loss survey data to identify trends and factors regarding the effects of winter ticks over time and to help understand the moose population decline in order to work towards a solution and develop a baseline data set to help manage the population into the future.”
Winter ticks are a native species found across most of Ontario. Each adult female tick can lay up to 5,000 eggs in June, which hatch in late summer to early fall. They latch onto moose, and tick larvae bury themselves deep into the moose’s fur, next to the skin to take blood meals. The tick larvae then moult into nymphs around November, and moult into the adult stage in late winter. In late winter and early spring, adult female ticks become engorged with blood from the moose. It is during this time that moose can be severely stressed as populations of ticks can be high (50,000 to 100,000 ticks per moose). This can lead to mortalities, particularly in heavily infected calves. Moose will rub, chew, scratch and lick themselves raw to their skin trying to get rid of the ticks.
The ministry is currently investigating various causes of the moose population decline across Ontario. The moose roadside hair loss survey in WMU 28 is contributing to these efforts. Data collected from these surveys will be analyzed and compared to recent aerial moose hair loss surveys that were conducted by MNRF in late March. As data is collected over multiple years, trends and factors may become apparent and help us understand the population decline in order to work towards solutions.
“There can be all kinds of reasons for a decline in numbers,” England said. “We know ticks do have an effect on the moose, but to what extent, we don’t know yet. Time will tell. It is important to this area to find out if there is a decline or not. There are a lot of moose here, with them being hit by cars or trains. Those moose are coming from somewhere. It can be hard to get a good count of moose from an air survey as well because a lot of variables are involved that could have moose deep in the bush and not seen. We are doing what we can to help. We want people back here hunting. It is a way of life.”