ERROL, N.H. — An ongoing study of moose mortality shows the number of New Hampshire moose calves dying of tick infestation rose this past winter.
WMUR reports that 74 percent of moose calves wearing monitoring collars died this past winter, as opposed to 64 percent the first year of the study.
New Hampshire Fish and Game biologist Kristine Rines, who heads the moose project, says she's hoping this winter's lingering snow will help reduce the number of ticks.
Rines is collaborating with Maine wildlife biologists to study the moose populations of both states. The study is now in its second year.
Maine has roughly 60,000 moose, while New Hampshire's population has declined by nearly half to about 4,000 moose. Vermont's moose population has dropped from 5,000 to 2,500 in the past decade.