DENVER – Warmer winters are more than just a problem for Colorado’s large skiing population.
The state’s moose also are feeling the impact, in the form of tiny tick bites. Historically, much of the winter tick population dies off as temperatures drop, but moose expert Steve Kilpatrick, the executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, said the warming climate is ensuring the ticks’ survival and the chance they will glom onto Colorado’s moose population.
“Warmer temperatures just mean higher survival rate of ticks,” Kilpatrick said. “We’re finding more and more tick-loads on moose farther to the north. They can and are impacting moose in a huge way.”
Moose are just one of the animals affected by an increase in pest populations in a new report released by the National Wildlife Federation. Ticked Off: America’s Outdoor Experience and Climate Change found that pests such as ticks and mosquitoes are proliferating as the climate changes.
“It’s not our imagination. This is already happening,” said Dr. Doug Inkley, senior scientist and author of the report.
“There is mounting evidence of a warming climate and the negative impacts associated with it,” he said. “We must take action now, for our children’s future, for our outdoor-experience future.”
Unlike deer ticks, winter ticks are not attracted to humans and aren’t known to carry any diseases that can infect humans, but tens of thousands of winter ticks can attach to one moose, causing anemia and making it hard for the instinctively sedentary animal to survive cold winters.
“Moose infected with ticks are spending up to 90 percent of their time fighting ... the tick load that’s irritating them,” Kilpatrick said. “They’re just constantly on the move, constantly losing energy and losing tons and tons of insulative hair.”
Winter ticks also can affect elk, caribou, while-tailed deer and mule deer.
