A donation from Irving Woodlands, LLC assists researchers in the woods.

Biologists and research students from the University of New Hampshire are studying the effects of a parasite known as the winter tick on moose populations.

The tick, moving north as a result of climate change patterns, is seriously affecting moose populations in the southern extent of their habitat range (New Hampshire, Vermont, and Southern Maine).

The study involves radio collaring moose - up to 100 cows and 100 calves in Maine and New Hampshire over the next two years.   Most of the radio collars have GPS technology and transmit an alert when the animals die.  Once the alert has been sent, the researchers can find and examine the moose for such things as parasites, disease, age, and overall condition.

Irving Woodlands, LLC is supporting this effort by providing funding to establish WIFI at the university's remote moose research stations. The internet access is critical to help researchers receive nearly instantaneous mortality notifications, allowing them to act sooner.

The study will also include on-the-ground field work which involves locating cows and their calves three times a week during certain seasons to do a visual check on their condition.

Click here for more information on the research project.

The two-year project is headed by Dr. Peter Pekins, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of New Hampshire who has studied moose in Maine, New Hampshire, and other states.