Be aware the particular form of tick that cause moose mortality are a seperate variety than most folks are accustomed to. They are very large typically 1/4 inch to 3/8 across and would work well in a horror movie (some the shots on the web positively makes my skin crawl). They typically only go after ungulates (moose, deer caribou) and are from colder climates than ours. Apparently they are less of an issue with the smaller ungulates as they tend to rub them off but Moose with their thick coats dont tend to be able to remove them as well. I saw some speculation that the moose herd surged over the last 15 years as the moose expanded in territory faster than the winter ticks could catch up with them. Add in overpopulation and environmental stress and the natural selection is working. UNH states that they are "one host" ticks so unlike deer ticks they can live their entire life cycle on a moose without dropping off. Apparently when the island of Newfoundland was stocked with moose they stocked it with tick free moose due to the time of year and therefore the population of moose is overabundant much to the concern of drivers in the area.
