Visitors at a South Hero lookout point on Saturday morning saw something abnormal swimming in Lake Champlain: a moose.
The moose came on to shore at Allen Point — a Fish and Wildlife access area near the northern end of the causeway bike path — to a throng of people snapping photos, said Robert Currier, a game warden with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife who responded to a dispatch call about the incident.
Currier said when he arrived at the scene, the moose had already retreated back into the choppy water. Officials put in a call for a boat to retrieve the beleaguered animal, he said, but the 2- to 3-year-old male drowned before the boat arrived.
Moose — a creature of the boreal forest — are not typically found in low-lying Grand Isle County, said Scott Darling, wildlife biologist with the department. While this was a “rare event,” Darling noted that moose can swim over from New York. He added that there have been “confirmed sightings” of lynx, another forest dweller, in the Lake Champlain Islands.
“It just shows that some of these animals can have great movements,” he said.
Mark Scott, head of wildlife for the department, said he was surprised to learn that the animal had drowned, as moose are generally strong swimmers. “You’ll find them, especially in warm weather, actually out in lakes and ponds, feeding on aquatic vegetation.”
Scott added that crowding was likely not the sole cause of the moose’s death. The lumbering giants have have been plagued in recent years by brainworm and winter ticks, which could have weakened this moose, he said.
Brainworm, a disease caused by white-tailed deer parasite P. tenuis, has started killing off moose in southern and central Vermont. Deer rarely show symptoms as they have evolved with the parasite. But when the worm travels into a moose’s brain, the infection causes the moose to exhibit a combination of paralysis, fearlessness or malnutrition that can lead to the animal’s demise.
The winter tick has benefited from a combination of milder winters and an increased moose population in the Northeast Kingdom, home to most of the state’s moose. As many as 50,000 or more ticks will overwinter on a single moose, draining their blood when they are at their weakest.
Currier said the department advises the public to “keep their distance and stay away” when viewing wildlife. He noted that wildlife photographers use telescopic lenses to avoid disturbing animals.
“If you’re close enough that the moose knows you’re there, then you’re going to affect its behavior,” he said.
