No More Moose

Moose (Alces americanus)

These photos are of the last moose that I have seen. 

They are from September, 2018. 

Moose used to be very plentiful here. But suddenly they disappeared. Ticks have been killing them. Scientists have found upwards of 40,000 ticks on moose. Not on their entire body. Only on the part that was counted. The ticks seem to be a danger now because the climate is warmer, which allows the ticks to survive the winter and breed more successfully than ever before. Moose are most numerous in the Northeast Kingdom,where I live, than in other areas of Vermont. While I have not seen any for years, the Barton road crew has told me that a bull is seen frequently on my land.

I have so many memories of moose. Back in the day when cats were allowed outside, I would see them scuttle for shelter if a moose strolled by. One day, I saw a family with one calf casually sauntering down the double-yellow line in the road on their way to the wetlands across the road from me. They were coming down the road that circles Barton Mountain here. It's a windy road with no way for you to see what is around the next bend. I leaned out the window and yelled at them as loudly as I could to get out of the road. The bull looked at me and slowly, slowly, and grudgingly led his family into the bog.

But I also remember when the daughter of a good friend at church was killed in a collision with a moose. There is no news radio or newspaper, so I found out at the store in town and everyone was giving updates on the search for the woman. It was too eerily quiet in the store; you immediately knew something terrible had happened. She was a nurse in a hospital 30 miles away. She was returning home from a midnight shift. The state troopers did not find her or her car or the moose for over 12 hours. This woman had three very young daughters; one was only one-month old. The family was destroyed. My friend's marriage ended in a divorce.

I hope this horrible fallout from climate change can be reversed and the moose return. Fortunately, they can migrate further north to Canada. I assume. I hope they did. I believe there is nothing else that we as individuals can do for climate change except harass and hound our legislatures to get moving on it. It's up to the big guys now to get this fixed and not rely on the little people like us to do the heavy lifting when we have no power to do so. The environment, and our souls, need them to return.

Saturday's Critters at
Viewing Nature with Eileen

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