The moose tick is a species of tick that feeds specifically on the blood of moose, deer or other ungulates. These ticks can be deadly to these animals.
Each winter, the moose tick will infest an animal. During the season, as many as 80,000 ticks can be found on a single moose. These ticks will weaken the animals and make them susceptible to starvation and predation. The moose ticks also will cause the animals to rub up against trees to relieve the pain of the biting insects. This causes them to lose their thick, winter coats, putting them at risk for exposure to the cold weather.
The moose tick is a winter tick, which makes its life cycle very different from most ticks. The winter tick eggs remain un-hatched in the soil throughout the summer months. In the fall, the eggs hatch and the ticks crawl up the grasses to wait for a moose to walk past. The moose ticks then feed on the moose all winter and then drop to the ground in early spring to lay their eggs.
Winter ticks are considerably more dangerous to moose due to the relative newness of the moose species in North America. Winter ticks have evolved alongside deer for millions of years, but the moose has only been in North America for 10,000 years, so they are still adapting.
Warm springs and summers will increase the population of moose ticks. They can decimate moose populations and are being monitored in areas to determine how to control their spread. Moose ticks can take a heavy toll on moose in the wild and, therefore, must be observed and controlled.