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PORTLAND, maine — Sportsmen hoping to bag a big moose are seeing increased competition from a tiny parasite that’s cutting down moose populations in New England and across parts of the northern United States, prompting some states to offer hunters fewer permits or halt hunting altogether.
Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are issuing fewer moose hunting permits this year, citing the impact of winter ticks on their moose populations. In Minnesota, there will be no moose hunting season at all.
Thousands of ticks are sometimes found on a single moose, and the parasites can bleed the animals and cause anemia and death.
“It’s really that they bleed them dry,” said Lee Kantar, Maine’s moose biologist. The Associated Press
