Do Moose Shed?

[1HappyHiker]

In the Trip Reports forum, I posted a bushwhack to a little mountain called Bald Mountain near Stark, NH. Lots of moose sign were encountered on this whack. And at the beginning of the whack, a cow moose was spotted through the trees. The photo below was taken on this bushwhack, and I thought it was deserving of a separate posting in the Q&A Forum.

Perhaps it’s not that unusual, but I personally had not seen this before. The photo shows what appear to be moose droppings surrounded by some type of animal hair. So, my questions are as follows. I assume moose shed? If so, did this moose just happen to sh*t where it shed? Or perhaps, did the moose just happen to leave droppings in a spot where some other critter left some hair behind?

 

[Barbarossa]

They definitely shed. I have seen quite a few beds like that recently, some even hairier.

This one appears to have pooped after getting up.

Some photos from 3/21

 

[gaiagirl]

This is certainly moose hair. Most animals are beginning to shed their extra close-to-body winter layers right now and will be looking a little rough until their sleek outer coats are all that remain by late spring into summer.

 

[Puck]

Think of it as nesting material

 

[1HappyHiker]

Thanks everyone for confirming my suspicions that the hair in my photograph belonged to a moose. In the past I’ve been a bit unenthusiastic about bushwhacking in Spring conditions, so I guess that might be why I hadn’t ever come across a collection of moose hair that had been shed in the snow.

 

[peakbagger]

Moose get downright "mangy" looking when it warms up. They transition to a summer coat and sometimes it comes out in clumps. We try to keep the tourists away until they look better

Unfortunately this time of year is when the winter ticks are really gnawing on the poor moose and the moose are running out of winter reserves, every so often I have seen similiar hair with blood mixed in it.

 

[forestgnome]

I see this all winter long, not just springtime. FWIW, I notice hair in moose beds all winter long. Was this in a bed? I can't tell by the photo.

Did you see any blood-filled ticks? I'm curious to see if there are fewer ticks on the moose this year than in previous years. I hear that mild winters are bad for moose because ticks thrive, but I've seen nasty infestations on moose the past two springs, following cold winters.

Moose beds often have dead blood-filled ticks that die when the moose are laying down. They fall off and die in the cold

 

[1HappyHiker]

FWIW, I notice hair in moose beds all winter long. Was this in a bed? I can't tell by the photo.

Did you see any blood-filled ticks? . . . Moose beds often have dead blood-filled ticks that die when the moose are laying down. They fall off and die in the cold

Patrick, I wish I could be of more help. However, as you might guess by the nature of my posting, it’s obvious that I’m an untrained observer. I would be hard-pressed to determine if a particular spot was indeed a moose bed. Also, I did not see any blood-filled ticks, but then again, I didn’t know to look for any!

Thank you for your questions! They make me more aware of things to which I should be paying more attention. Your postings, and your questions are great learning experiences which I truly appreciate since they serve to enhance the time spent exploring in the woods.

 

[Dugan]

It's a common misconception that ticks die in the cold. Here's an article on the deer tick life cycle. It says, in part, that our cold New England winters help keep them at bay because they become inactive at temperatures colder 45F.

 

[forestgnome]

Dugan, excellent post! I never really beleived that cold winters killed ticks because "warm" winters are so rare and over-hyped in New England. Why would ticks be around at all if cold winters killed them and warm winters are a new phenomenom?

I often see dead blood-filled ticks in moose beds, but these are probably a small % of the total ticks on the moose.

Yuck!!!

 

[DougPaul]

It's a common misconception that ticks die in the cold. Here's an article on the deer tick life cycle. It says, in part, that our cold New England winters help keep them at bay because they become inactive at temperatures colder 45F.

The deer tick appears to be a different species from the one that infests moose. http://wildlife1.usask.ca/wildlife_health_topics/winter_tick/wintertick.php

The moose tick only lives for one year.

Doug

 

[1HappyHiker]

The responses to this thread have prompted me to do some Internet searching that I probably would not have otherwise done! Below are links to a couple of abstracts that were interesting to me, and perhaps might be of some interest to some others.

From what I gather from these abstracts, some moose hair-loss is associated with grooming actions (scratching, rubbing, licking, etc) which are directed at removing ticks. One study showed that moose uninfested with ticks groomed very little and only lost hair in May and June as part of the normal spring molt. However, grooming by infested moose was more frequent and of longer duration than grooming by uninfested moose. It occurred extensively in March and April, when ticks were gorging on blood, and resulted in premature loss of winter hair.

So, it seems to me that the poor moose whose hair I photographed in late March was probably infested by ticks. Considerable hair was deposited as a result of grooming in an effort to remove the ticks.

Link to Abstract 1

Link to Abstract 2

 

[forestgnome]

John, I can't find any good pics of moose beds. I only have a hundred of them Anyway, this one is what it looks like in a few inches of snow. There's always a pile of droppings because they do that when they get up. A bed just looks like a big, oval depression in the snow.

Here's a few pics of moose who have winter tick in late April. You can see where they have rubbed until hair has been removed.

cow...

bull...

you can see the ticks on his butt and shoulder...

licking to remove ticks, as described in the article...

happy trails

 

[Peakbagr]

Holy Cow !

Wonderful photos as usual.

Alan

 

[1HappyHiker]

John, I can't find any good pics of moose beds. I only have a hundred of them Anyway, this one is what it looks like in a few inches of snow. There's always a pile of droppings because they do that when they get up. A bed just looks like a big, oval depression in the snow.
Here's a few pics of moose who have winter tick in late April.

Patrick . . . hey, many thanks for taking the time to describe and to post the photo of the moose bed. It gives me a really good idea what to look for. Also thanks for the photos showing moose infested with ticks . . . what a nuisance that must be to those poor creatures . . . you can’t help be feel sorry for them.
Sorry I’m a bit late in responding . . .been away for a few days visiting family.

 

[Waumbek]

Also thanks for the photos showing moose infested with ticks . . . what a nuisance that must be to those poor creatures . . .

Yes, and it can be more than a nuisance. The combination of blood loss and skin infection from abrasions rubbing against trees to get rid of the ticks can be fatal. I'll spare eveyone the pictures of the moose that died in our back field from a winter tick infestation. I only took them for the agency that carted the body off to the moose dump.

 

[Jazzbo]

Couple of moose bed pics

Here's a couple of pictures taken this past winter in active mooseyards in VT and NH. First picture is of a moosebed taken in spruce/fir zone just below false summit of Mendon Peak (3600' elevation).



I took this photo at 3000' in mixed hardwoods/softwoods zone in Jobildonc Ravine near Moosilauke. It was slightly stale one that got snowed on after moose departed. The snow has melted and poo came back to the surface. But it does show moose pooed his bed. Not much in way of hair though. I have seen some pretty hairy beds with lots of hair. I think it gets frozen into the snow in course of the night and when he/she gets up it leaves some behind.

 

[1HappyHiker]

Yes, and it can be more than a nuisance. The combination of blood loss and skin infection from abrasions rubbing against trees to get rid of the ticks can be fatal. I'll spare eveyone the pictures of the moose that died in our back field from a winter tick infestation. I only took them for the agency that carted the body off to the moose dump.

Gheeze! I’ll have to expose my naiveté and ask if such a brutal infestation is something that has always been experienced by the moose here in the Whites, or is this a relatively recent trend (by recent, I mean like only within say the past 10 years or so)???

 

[Waumbek]

It's nothing new although our awareness may be. If you see what appears to be an albino moose, you may be looking at a tick-infested moose pale with anemia and hair loss and perhaps terminal. Stay away. Winter ticks won't infest you, but a "ghost moose" is already under tremendous stress, and it doesn't need any more from humans crowding its space.

I've posted this link to a short but informative 2005 report on winter ticks by NH F&G before, but here it is again:

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wil...Reports_2005/wildlife_report_042205.htm#Ticks

P.S. A moose walked down our driveway and out across the field at dusk. It's the first one I've seen on that route in '09. There will be more.