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The last decade I have seen moose with 90% of their hair missing due to them rubbing on trees etc. trying to get rid of ticks. Ticks are more abundant in warmer years.
Much of the warmer weather for winter is at night in recent years with less extreme cold. Also snow cover time has lessen in much of the state.
Yes deer abundance has contributed,also climate change,wolves etc. it is a multitude of things.
Also indications are certain climate changes means more snails for the intermediate hosts of brain worm.
Many times in life we try to over simplify things-nature is very complicated and all things trying to get the upper hand.
The life cycle of the parasitic worm P. tenuis is complex and multi-staged.
Adults will lay eggs on the dura mater (the outer layer of the meninges) of the brain or directly into the blood stream of an infected host.[4] The eggs hatch into first stage larvae, which travel in the bloodstream to the lungs where they travel up the respiratory tract, are swallowed, and then pass out of the body in the mucus coating of fecal pellets.[4][6]
Gastropods such as snails and slugs feed upon the mucus coating of the fecal pellets and ingest the larvae.[4][6] While in the gastropod, the larvae develop into second and third stage larvae which are capable of infection.[6]
Gastropods carrying second and third stage larvae may be accidentally ingested with plants, which results in the larvae being transmitted to a new host. The larvae then move into the new host's stomach wall and make their way to the central nervous system, as in white-tailed deer, or the brain as in other ungulates. Once in these tissues they will develop into their adult third stage of life and lay eggs to begin the cycle again.[4][6]
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