"What's a Ghost Moose? How Ticks Are Killing an Iconic Animal"

"As New England winters get warmer and shorter, ticks are driving a worrisome decline in a species that's crucial to the region's economy."

"EAST MOXIE TOWNSHIP, Maine -- Lee Kantar crouches over a dead moose calf and pulls a clump of hair from its straggly shoulder.

A few days earlier, the sickly ten-month-old animal had waded through deep snow to this sun-dappled stand of spruce trees in western Maine, laid down, and died.

"See how white those hairs are?" says Kantar, a moose biologist for the state.

It's a telltale sign that the calf was becoming a "ghost moose"—an animal so irritated by ticks that it rubs off most of its dark brown hair, exposing its pale undercoat and bare skin."

Christine Dell'Amore reports for National Geographic June 1, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Warming Climate And Winter Ticks Decimating Moose Populations" (Aljazeera America)

"Most Moose Calves in Study Died This Winter" (WMUR)

"Maine Moose Got Reprieve From Deadly Winter Ticks" (Portland Press Herald)

"Ticks Still a Deadly Threat To Moose Population" (AP)