Good to see that Coyotes and Bears are not "boogeymen" in Vermont and not being blamed for the decade long decline of the Moose herd there..........Instead, state biologists recognize that the root problem precipitating the declining population is warmer winters which have likely increased the incidence of winter tics, a likely culprit in the Moose population falling to about 2500 animals, roughly half as many Moose as the carrying capacity of this state...............Thankfully, a historically normal cold winter impacted the Green Mountain State last year with the result being a die off of tics.............The number of ticks found on moose killed during the hunting season was down 41 percent .........Biologists found an average of 15.9 ticks per Moose this year , down from an average of 27.1 last year.........A momentary blip in weather patterns or will Vermont get a helping hand from mother nature and serve up a 2nd consecutive normally cold winter this year to help stem the decline of the Moose??

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.chron.com
/news/science/article/Moose-herd-fares-better-as-study-finds-fewer-ticks-5863454.php&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTMjc0ODg0MzQ4NTk4Nj
AxNDM3MTIaM2JiNTcwMGRiYTRlZTUyZDpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=
AFQjCNEJCyaeMmDPTv1nVUljklRWOckCJA

Moose herd fares better as

 study finds fewer ticks

By WILSON RING, Associated Press | November 1, 2014 | Updated: November 1, 2014 2:11pm

In this Oct. 16, 2006 file photo, a moose stands in a field in
 East Montpelier, Vt.

 State biologists said the number of ticks found on moose 
killed during the October

 2014 hunting season was down 41 percent. Ticks have been
 blamed, in part, for

 a decline in the size of the state's moose herd, which is now
 estimated to be

 about 2,500 -- below the optimum number of 3,000 to 5,000.

 October's moose hunting season was 

good news for Vermont wildlife officials who
 say a tick infestation

 that has harmed the state's herd waned in the
last year.

A "normal" winter and a late spring could be the
 reason biologists

 found fewer ticks on the carcasses of moose
 killed during Vermont's

 October hunting season, said Cedric Alexander
, the moose biologist

 for the stateDepartment of Fish and Wildlife.