jjmcgo
New member
http://www.startribune.com/local/15895882.html
They're not sure of the cause yet. But they're dying at an alarming rate.
They're not sure of the cause yet. But they're dying at an alarming rate.
Minnesota Moose dying
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DrewKnight
Active member
Scary stuff...
There have been a couple instances of "downer" moose in Waterville in the two years we've lived here. In one case, a yearling went down in my friend's back yard. It lay there suffering for a while, but was dead by the time WV Public Safety arrived. They said it was likely a brain parasite, which is unfortunately quite common. We also found a well-decomposed and scavenged carcass a quarter mile up the Old Waterville Road in the spring -- maybe it was tagged by a car, but it was pretty far from the road, so some other means was likely.
There have been a couple instances of "downer" moose in Waterville in the two years we've lived here. In one case, a yearling went down in my friend's back yard. It lay there suffering for a while, but was dead by the time WV Public Safety arrived. They said it was likely a brain parasite, which is unfortunately quite common. We also found a well-decomposed and scavenged carcass a quarter mile up the Old Waterville Road in the spring -- maybe it was tagged by a car, but it was pretty far from the road, so some other means was likely.
forestgnome
New member
That's a bummer. The author tries to blame global warming, but hard evidence reveals brainworm. What a horrible death. 
IndianChris
New member
I believe Elk east of the Mississippi have a similar problem with a brain parasite. Eastern Elk themselves I think are extinct...any elk east of the Mississippi are in fact brought east from out west.
Unfortunate.
Unfortunate.
Puck
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forestgnome said:That's a bummer. The author tries to blame global warming, but hard evidence reveals brainworm. What a horrible death.
N=1 is an anecdote. Fromthe article they only had one postmortem that they could look through the neural tissue. I think the take home message from the article is that more, much more research is needed. They did not mention the chronic wasting disease and bovine TB that is widespread in the Dakotas.
From my understanding the brain worm is endemic in most North American moose populations. An epedmic would be triggered if something causes an inbalance. Other diseases and stressors on the moose would create such an inbalance. Climate change is a very real stressor. Look at the problem early thaws in the northeast can cause by contributing to tick population increases that can waste the moose. (this years winter and snowfall could off set a trend, we could only hope)
At any rate climate change is viewed inthe article as a possible proximate cause in a complicated chain of events.
