"The tracks of moose, more or less recent, to speak literally, covered every square rod on the sides of the mountain; and these animals are probably more numerous there now than ever before, being driven into this wilderness, from all sides, by the settlements."
-- Henry David Thoreau
[ File: Male Moose.jpg -- From Wikimedia Commons ]
But for how much longer will these majestic creatures roam the wild? Sometimes it isn't only the Canaries, that should alert us to the dangers of the coalmine ...
Moose Die-Off Alarms Scientists
by Jim Robbins, NYTimes.com -- Oct 14, 2013
[...]
What exactly has changed remains a mystery. Several factors are clearly at work. But a common thread in most hypotheses is climate change.
Winters have grown substantially shorter across much of the moose’s range. In New Hampshire, a longer fall with less snow has greatly increased the number of winter ticks, a devastating parasite. “You can get 100,000 ticks on a moose,” said Kristine Rines, a biologist with the state’s Fish and Game Department.
In Minnesota, the leading culprits are brain worms and liver flukes. Both spend part of their life cycles in snails, which thrive in moist environments.
[ File: Moose distribution.png -- From Wikimedia Commons ]
[...]
Another theory is heat stress. Moose are made for cold weather, and when the temperature rises above 23 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, as has happened more often in recent years, they expend extra energy to stay cool. That can lead to exhaustion and death.
[...]
It will be
a sad day indeed, when all we have left of these wilderness stalwarts, are the faded traces of them, once penned to paper ...
[ File: Moose (PSF).png -- From Wikimedia Commons ]
"Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it."
-- Henry David Thoreau