The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNR) has launched a new citizen-driven campaign to track populations of winter ticks that affect moose within the province.
“The ticks impact the moose as they gorge on the moose’s blood, which leads to hair loss as they rub themselves to try and get the ticks off. This leads to abnormal behaviour which makes them more susceptible to predators,” said Ministry wildlife biologist Kevin Watt.
Winter tick populations within the province are largely a mystery, which led to the conception of the FLNR Moose Tick Survey.
The extent of hair loss on a moose is easily observable and gives a rough indication of how many ticks the animal is hosting.
“At this point, it’s hard to tell what’s happening with winter ticks. Hopefully, this program will help determine what the long-term trend of winter ticks is doing to moose in the province, as well as if they’re becoming more prevalent or not, ” Watt explained.
He added that winter ticks do not affect humans, nor do they transmit any diseases to humans.
Participation is open to anyone within the province.
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