North Maine Woods, Moose, Ticks….Fire

[table][tr][td]The list is very long of literature that documents the past use of fire to kill ticks.   Here is just one publication. 

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/using-fire-to-improve-wildlife-habitat.pdf

There should be a modern study done in the northeastern U.S. to determine the effectiveness of fire as a tool to control ticks.  

Any fire in the woods of northern Maine would most likely occur in the Autumn because of the reduced relative humidity and the drastic increase in fine, dead forest material. 

Let me put it this way: If we saw such a widespread forest fire in northern Maine in the Autumn, one of the very positive aspects of it would be a drastic reduction in the tick infestation the following Spring.  I believe it is just that simple.  

I believe a widespread forest fire in northern Maine would prove to be largely beneficial.  When I say the North Maine Woods, I think I am largely referring to the slash fields and surrounding areas.  [/td]
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I suspect you are correct, fire would kill those treacherous little creeps. The problem being that the places we don't want ticks (where people live) are the same places we don't want forest fires (where people live).
Global warming has encouraged deer ticks in Maine and the Lyme and other very nasty diseases from them. Epidemic is a word that is used often...the deer ticks are as small as 2 mm making detection difficult, I use a flea comb for cat and dogs on myself. They are in all woods tho most reported bites are from people in their back yards. It is a large, growing, and under reported (pressure from the tourist industry) problem.

It's global warming that's the culprit! Years ago there was no sign of the Deer tick up here in Northern Maine. Now there are isolated reports coming out each year of Lyme disease in Northern Maine and growing in numbers. And as far as the Winter Tick that's devastating our Moose herd goes, it too is increasing it's numbers annually at an alarming rate. Instead of falling off the Moose into the snow pack on the ground in early Spring and dying off, now they fall off and disappear into the bare ground's leaf litter (no snow on the ground), to begin the successful mating cycle for the following Sept. when the newborn nymphs climb into the low lying branches and leaves to attach themselves by the millions to Moose.

To my way of thinking, a forest fire of that proportion would hurt the wildlife population (especially Moose and Deer) more than help because of the damage to the Winter canopy (commonly called Deer yards) that these animals so desperately rely on in the cold months for protection from the elements. Even commercial logging is substantially reducing those canopies.....and, no, I don't have a clue as to how to remedy this terrible situation!

Blck-shouldered Kite wrote:[table][tr][td]
Let me put it this way: If we saw such a widespread forest fire in northern Maine in the Autumn, one of the very positive aspects of it would be a drastic reduction in the tick infestation the following Spring.  I believe it is just that simple.  

I believe a widespread forest fire in northern Maine would prove to be largely beneficial.  When I say the North Maine Woods, I think I am largely referring to the slash fields and surrounding areas.  [/td]
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It's never that simple. It reminds me of something my dad once told me. He was a Bataan veteran and a survivor of the Bataan Death March. When one of the Japanese soldiers was asked by an American soldier what he thought of Americans as jungle fighters, he replied "American no good jungle fighter. American remove the jungle!". 

Even controlled burns can create their own problems. In the Jemez mountains near Los Alamos, there have been several fires, including the La Mesa, Las Conchas and the Cerro Grande fires. The Cerro Grande fire was a controlled burn that got out of control. Many of these "controlled burns" are done in the spring when the temperatures and RH are lower, but the winds are usually high or unpredictable at that time. I have seen the large fires destroy much of the forest that has already undergone a controlled burn! When people say that controlled burns are beneficial, I wonder if it's too late to use that tool on our overgrown forests. If you use fire as a tool to control ticks, what else is destroyed or damaged by the fires? What is the bigger picture? How many squirrels, rabbits, birds, mice, salamanders, foxes etc. are displaced and their food sources disrupted? Is the seed bank that will now germinate because of the fire of a desirable type, or will new vegetation emerge that is not as beneficial to most species or even possibly be an invasive variety? What does the smoke do to air quality and global warming? Fire is said to reduce greenhouse gases, but what other forms of pollution are caused? What happens to water quality? Will the fire burn at high enough temperatures to damage the soil? Way too extreme of a measure to control ticks in my opinion!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Grande_Fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Conchas_Fire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mesa_Fire

Las Conchas Fire Images

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/re ... deshow.xml

After the Las Conchas fire, the erosion was extreme and the water quality was affected much. There was flooding and a lot of ash was washed downstream into Cochiti lake on the Rio Grande. Santa Clara Pueblo was much affected , as well.
If only the slash was burned in Maine, there would probably be little benefit from the fire. Fire IMO is not a tool that should be used indiscriminately to control only one problem without considering the other effects of it.

Joe

Mark Picard wrote:It's global warming that's the culprit! Years ago there was no sign of the Deer tick up here in Northern Maine. Now there are isolated reports coming out each year of Lyme disease in Northern Maine and growing in numbers. And as far as the Winter Tick that's devastating our Moose herd goes, it too is increasing it's numbers annually at an alarming rate. Instead of falling off the Moose into the snow pack on the ground in early Spring and dying off, now they fall off and disappear into the bare ground's leaf litter (no snow on the ground), to begin the successful mating cycle for the following Sept. when the newborn nymphs climb into the low lying branches and leaves to attach themselves by the millions to Moose.

To my way of thinking, a forest fire of that proportion would hurt the wildlife population (especially Moose and Deer) more than help because of the damage to the Winter canopy (commonly called Deer yards) that these animals so desperately rely on in the cold months for protection from the elements. Even commercial logging is substantially reducing those canopies.....and, no, I don't have a clue as to how to remedy this terrible situation!

[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Ok and thank you .  I know that you surely must know.  Now I better understand the life history of the Winter Tick. Very interesting and very sad. But I wish you would still explain more about them. Where have these things been all our lives ? I want to learn more about this hideous parasite. What is its Latin name ? Actually Mark, there seems to be quite a bit about it on the net. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]When I google image "moose winter ticks" I see this: [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sit ... BM#imgrc=_[/font]


It breaks my heart and angers the hell out of me....both at once.


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]MDIFW....TAKE THE GUNS OFF OUR TICK-INFESTED MOOSE ![/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]By allowing any moose lottery/hunt at all in 2015, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is unconscionable. Their insistence on allowing the moose to be put under the gun while it is obvious that every single moose in Maine is fighting for its very life throughout the entire year is....is audacious, cruel, irresponsible and unforgivable. I have lost all respect for MDIFW. IMO, this agency has become a puppet for Sportsman Alliance of Maine and Maine Trappers Association. This cannot continue. [/font]

Regarding FIRE


The Biosphere that we live on is oxygen-rich and fuel-rich. To varying extents, most terrestrial habitats evolved under the influence of fire.


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]The natural role of fire (and it has one that can be inarguably proven) is a very difficult thing to communicate to folks who have not really read up on the role of woodland fires themselves. I wrote a piece in response to Joe's response to my opening comment. I am not satisfied with that piece enough to release it here....yet. It has been a long time away from fire for me. Formerly, I used it everyday to mimic a historical fire regime in an assignment given to me in the Southeast by the feds. Enough on that for now. But I will tell you this in all earnestness....I know fire and I know how to use it as a forest management tool to its greatest effect. [/font]


Mark, to my way of thinking, a very large wildfire is in the future of the North Maine Woods. There are several factors that I believe make it inevitable. But I may be wrong because I have not been up there since 2013. I should take a long weekend within the next month and do it.


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]I will do the best I can to briefly cover factors that I believe will lead to an uncontrollable wildfire in the "now-mess" that was once Maine's boreal forest. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]BTW, I exclude BSP from this. But in very severe drought, depending on the fire origin, wind direction/speed and RH, the fire could pass right through Baxter, setting back plant succession in BSP for however long the forest has been growing since the last major environmental impact. In severe drought, it would be just like those fires out West. I wish Governor Baxter had doubled, tripled or more....the size of his priceless gift to the "people of Maine". [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]My experience has been that it is most difficult to make people believe that woodland fire is beneficial. All I will say about this (at this time) is that woodland fire unlocks the nutrients that are in all organisms and (in this case) are locked up in the plants.....with nitrogen possibly being the most important of them all....and allows them to simply end up right on the forest floor. That is huge! Post fire, all these nutrients are immediately available for the first post fire rain. They percolate into the soil, as a great pulse of fertilizer and it shows immediately in the vigor and color of the new growth. The forest is really alive now more than it has been for....well, probably years ! [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]We should have learned all of this in the great Yellowstone Fire (back in the 80's I believe). At the time, the press (as always), presented this fire as destruction. It took weeks and months for the real truth about fire to come out. It was a conversion of nutrients, a setting back of plant succession, a rebirth. And perhaps most of all, the Yellowstone Fire showed us yet again....that Smokey is wrong! Forest fires can only be postponed. By working hard to prevent/suppress wildfires, agencies are only allowing the fuel to build up for a conflagration...which is what the Yellowstone fire was. But even then, it was not the "destruction of so many acres" as the press always interprets wildfire as being. Wildfire simply happens and always has. It is a natural process. It was a conversion, a sudden, dramatic, setting back of plant succession. It was a rebirth of the forest. It is hard to see it as that. Nature does not stop...not as long as the Sun lives. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]In my unpublished book on the Glades, the perfect title for my chapter on fire was and is.....Fire: Natural, Beneficial and .....Inevitable. [/font]


BTW, there are many reference links to all of this but I will leave that to Joe. I like spending my time trying to communicate what I have actually experienced through these years in nature.


FACTORS THAT WILL LIKELY LEAD TO A MAJOR WILDFIRE IN NORTHERN MAINE


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]1. Accumulation of dead fuel; i.e. what I like to call "slash fields". Most of this fuel is suspended off the ground and therefore surrounded by copious amounts of oxygen. [/font]


The industry may be processing the slash onsite for wood pellets right now. I have heard that to be true. If so, then this might greatly reduce the chances of wildfire.


2. Very large, open surface areas that have been created by tree harvesting operations. Once a fire becomes well-established, these areas allow much larger volumes of air to move unimpeded, than would have been the case in a forest not impacted by intense tree harvesting.


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Simply put, Maine's north woods are being ravaged. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]3. The canopy of the Maine's boreal forest is being removed at a faster rate than every before. This has allowed copious amounts of sunlight to reach the floor and mid-story, causing a huge increase in the production of mid-successional stage woody (and herbaceous) plants. BTW, this is what is driving the increase in the bear pop. In a wildfire, these areas become ladder fuel that take the fire up into the crowns of trees that remain along the fringes of the open areas. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]There are more fuel considerations that I am missing. I am sure of it. There are others, more experienced in fire than I am, who can really get into this in much more depth. But again, I know fire. Here is what is likely to happen:[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]It will happen in the Autumn I believe. I say this because in the region we live (Maine...and the northeast) at the juncture of late Summer and early Fall, the relative humidity goes way down and stays there for weeks. [/font]


4. Relative Humidity
[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Relative Humidity, along with wind velocity and air temperature, is a top factor effecting fire behavior. We use numbers to express the relative liveliness of a fire. Before we finally release any controlled burn, we create a very small test fire to see the actual fire behavior. It is imperative to have a working Indian tank right next to you. In dry weather, this is when you can really bite yourself by starting a wildfire; i.e. if the weather is simply too "lively" to allow you to control a fire, you will only know it when you start that little test fire and it gets away from you. That is when you are forced to get on the radio and admit your mistake. It has happened. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Woodland fire in an RH that is down in the high to mid 20's (as I recall) is impossible to control. On the other hand, when RH is up into the 50's, fire is impossible to keep going, no matter how much drip torch fuel you may have to try to set the fire.[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]IMO, of the three weather factors that most effect fire behavior, RH is the very top. When burning, I always carry a belt fire weather kit. In it is a sling psychrometer. With that tool I can get a precise measurement of RH. You cannot get an accurate measure of RH on any day, at your location....from the media (the weatherperson....nope). RH is the amount of water in the air at a certain temperature, compared to the amount of water that the air can hold at that temperature. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Enough of the war stories. Back to the Maine wildfire:[/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]5. Drought! Obviously, this factor is going to make the woods very dry. Periodic drought is also inevitable. The lack of drought right now (September 2015) is the reason I do not think there will be a wildfire in northern Maine this year. But the wildfire I refer to will very likely occur in an extended Autumn drought. I think we came pretty close during a few of the years in say the last 20 years. It is only a matter of time. [/font]


5. Global warming. This should not need any explanation.


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]Everything points toward a major wildfire in northern Maine's future. [/font]


[font=Verdana, sans-serif]The combination of low RH during drought and the heavy fuel conditions in the "now-mess" that was once a beautiful boreal forest.....will one day bring about a major wildfire. [/font]


It will likely happen on a windy day. It will probably happen when there are hunters in the woods. It is inevitable I think.


WINTER TICKS
The fire will wipe out most of the tick population. But I guess the horrible tick infestation will continue because ticks will continue to live on the moose during the fire and of course, continue to reproduce.


[font=ArialMT, sans-serif]An already devastating tick infestation is going to get worse for our Maine moose.   Obviously, the stress of any negative environmental factor that is brought to bear on a wildlife species, is going to be felt most on the fringes of that species' range.  Maine is on the southern end of the moose range. By most accounts, we are going to lose the moose here in Maine, at the southern end of the animal's range. [/font]


[font=ArialMT, sans-serif]By continuing to lottery/hunt the moose, MDIFW is unconscionably exacerbating the horrible plight of this beloved animal.[/font]

I wish I knew how to rid a document of those nuisance font things that appear when I write a doc in another program and copy/paste to NSN. Sorry. I tried to delete the above and go ahead and manually type it again, but it will not allow me to edit it.

As mentioned, much of Maine's problems are not helped by the clear cutting that has gotten worse over the years.  Check out this image I took in northern Maine 5 years ago.  This area was clear cut in 1983 and then planted in 1986.  The next planned "thinning" was not scheduled until 2026.  This image was taken in 2010 and already clear cut again 16 years before the planned date...... and they left the sign!

thanks for the image Jim

I learned some from it.

Re: Pasting text, maybe this will help

http://www.naturescapes.net/forums/view ... 7&t=246639

Joe

Yuh….thanks Joe   I think what you wrote may help me.  I just need to absorb it.  I am not good at that stuff.  But I know that I am not making the mistake again of spending a bunch of time writing, only to find out that I cannot post it without a bunch of font crap hanging off it LOL.   Thanks again my friend,

Hi to Mark, Joe, Steven, Paul   

Folks…..I have learned a lot this weekend.  And what I learned is chilling, discouraging, sad and shocking.

I was not aware of the cause of the winter tick infestation or the scope of the problem, until I read Mark's comment.  

1.  Because of sex, all species would populate the entire Biosphere if not for certain environmental limiting factors unique to each.

2.  Those individuals within a species that live along the fringes of a species' range (not home range) are most susceptible to any of these limiting factors.

3.  In Maine, our beloved moose lives along the southern edge of the species' range.

4.  After reading Mark's comment, I did a little net search.  If it is true that this infestation is caused by global warming  (and apparently the consensus is that it is) this would very likely permanently push the moose range farther north.

5.  Let me go a step further:  It seems that this global warming is going to push the southern border of the boreal forest northward.  The plight of the polar bear has gotten a lot of press over global warming, but I know I (for one) did not even consider the effect on the species in my home that depend on cold winter.  

Remember, the late Frank Eglar, a noted Ecologist, said "Ecosystems are not only more complex than we think.  They are more complex than we can think."  Clever and catchy…but apparently also true.  I do not think anybody foresaw this.

6.  If you "Google Image"  "moose winter ticks" you will see graphic images of the living hell these poor creatures are going through with this horrible parasite.  

7.  It is unconscionable for MDIFW to allow the moose to continue under the gun while so many animals fight for their lives with this horrible infestation.  

I believe that with MDIFW…..it is all about money.  

How much loot does the moose lottery bring to MDIFW each year ?   You know, they always used to cry about not being in the general fund.  Maybe this moose and bear madness is an offshoot of that.  I do not know.  

I am surprised they are still getting away with this.

Blck-shouldered Kite wrote: 7.  It is unconscionable for MDIFW to allow the moose to continue under the gun while so many animals fight for their lives with this horrible infestation.  

I believe that with MDIFW…..it is all about money.  

How much loot does the moose lottery bring to MDIFW each year ?   You know, they always used to cry about not being in the general fund.  Maybe this moose and bear madness is an offshoot of that.  I do not know.  

I am surprised they are still getting away with this.

I can't find an exact dollar amount for just the moose lottery, but the combined dollar amount for moose, bear, and deer in Maine totalled $175, 000,000 last year! Now, that's a figure for all three, but let's assume for the moment that the moose's portion is one third of that figure, or roughly $59 million. That's a lotta' dough! Imagine if the Maine F&W lost that figure in a year! 

Check this out Robert:  
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015 ... vironment/

This article will give you a better idea of what's happening up here with Maine and the moose.  :(  

Hi Mark.  I will read it when I get home.  I think it is the same heartwrenching natgeo article that I eye-scanned yesterday.

Mark, what if there was a tick repellent, that was aerially delivered in a pellet that moose would readily eat and even seek out once they tasted it ?

1.  Wildlife managers have been successful at delivering a rabies inoculant aerially…..why not pellets infused with a tick repellent ?

2.   Veterinary science has developed orally-administered tick repellents for dogs and cats…why not for moose ?

I know moose are primarily browsers…but do they graze too ?  I am not a moose biologist.  Hey, I don't know everything about wildlife…LOL.

I think I recall that raccoons love the banana flavor.  What do moose go crazy over ?   Food for thought.  Ask around.  

Called the Bangor office to try to reach Maine's moose biologist today.  Guess he was out in the field.  Will probably remember to try again tomorrow.  Don't know.

i have half an idea that he did not want to continue the moose season under these circumstances but was over ridden by the bureaucracy.   Just a guess. 

Blck-shouldered Kite wrote:[table][tr][td]The list is very long of literature that documents the past use of fire to kill ticks.   Here is just one publication. 

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/using-fire-to-improve-wildlife-habitat.pdf

There should be a modern study done in the northeastern U.S. to determine the effectiveness of fire as a tool to control ticks.  

Any fire in the woods of northern Maine would most likely occur in the Autumn because of the reduced relative humidity and the drastic increase in fine, dead forest material. 

Let me put it this way: If we saw such a widespread forest fire in northern Maine in the Autumn, one of the very positive aspects of it would be a drastic reduction in the tick infestation the following Spring.  I believe it is just that simple.  

I believe a widespread forest fire in northern Maine would prove to be largely beneficial.  When I say the North Maine Woods, I think I am largely referring to the slash fields and surrounding areas.  [/td]
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Fire prevention, especially in fire-adapted ecosystems, is like heroin...once you begin to use it you can't stop.  The current devastating California fires are a prime example.  If the normal pattern of periodic fires had been maintained there wouldn't be enough fuel to allow the catastrophic fires we're having this year as there would have been natural fuel breaks from the periodic smaller fires.  But we love our native vegetation and trees so we protect them to death (and build our homes within them!).  Of course, drought doesn't help matters but historical fire frequency is evident.  I just returned from Sequoia National Park where all (and I really mean ALL) of the large redwood trees show heavy evidence of past fire.  Yet, the forest floor is currently littered with fuels from fire suppression in the past century and with the right conditions fire will change the area forever.

Another way of looking at this is that Moose don't belong in the north east US at the present time and because of that they are suffering the trials of being at the southern extreme of their range. Nature balances everything with the cards that are dealt. Embrace the changes and see what critters will expand their range north in our constantly changing environment. Moose weren't put on this planet for our enjoyment.

Mike in O wrote:Another way of looking at this is that Moose don't belong in the north east US at the present time and because of that they are suffering the trials of being at the southern extreme of their range.  Nature balances everything with the cards that are dealt.  Embrace the changes and see what critters will expand their range north in our constantly changing environment.  

Moose in Maine are NOT at their extreme southern range - there are herds as far down as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire (all suffering the same fate, by the way) . Moose have been roaming in Maine for a long time. It ain't their fault we're getting global warming!  

This decimation of the Moose herd is happening across Canada as well. Certainly Canada is not at the southern extreme of their range! 

What in Hell do you mean by this?:  "Moose weren't put on this planet for our enjoyment".

Mark Picard wrote:

Mike in O wrote:Another way of looking at this is that Moose don't belong in the north east US at the present time and because of that they are suffering the trials of being at the southern extreme of their range.  Nature balances everything with the cards that are dealt.  Embrace the changes and see what critters will expand their range north in our constantly changing environment.  

Moose in Maine are NOT at their extreme southern range - there are herds as far down as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire (all suffering the same fate, by the way) . Moose have been roaming in Maine for a long time. It ain't their fault we're getting global warming!  

This decimation of the Moose herd is happening across Canada as well. Certainly Canada is not at the southern extreme of their range! 

What in Hell do you mean by this?:  "Moose weren't put on this planet for our enjoyment".

Those little states in the Northeast are the size of counties in Oregon...when I say Maine, I mean the Eastern range of this boreal dweller.  What I meant about the enjoyment statement is that there was all sorts of comments to change the ecology of the moose habitat so they remain and man can enjoy for sport or viewing.

Mike:  If I talked that way about the plights of species that are close to your heart….you would think I was insensitive.  But I have not spoken that way.  I know how you feel about those issues and how strongly you feel about natural Oregon.  And on this forum, regarding all of the situations you feel strongly about, I have spoken out in your favor….because when it comes to natural Maine, I feel the same way you do about natural Oregon.  It is obvious that Mark and I are torn by the uncertainty of the future of the moose in Maine.

To Mike and Mark:  I grew up here and I spent much of my young life, much of my early professional life and some of my older life ALL OVER EVERY SQUARE MILE OF NORTHERN MAINE….excepting parts around Jackman and a few pieces Downeast.  

I became endeared to the moose back in the 70's.  I made an entry into a diary back then when I was working for Maine Fish and Game..  That day was a life changer.  It was a day in August I guess…. and I was watching 7 moose together, in a loose group, on a body of water, the name of which I do not mention to anybody.  Mark, I would mention it to you but not on a forum.  That is just the way it is.  The place is no secret at all.  I just do not trust the general public when it comes to the things closest to my heart.  And the moose is one of those things closest to my heart.  Anyway, it was the sight of that large group of moose that made me decide to take up nature photography.

It very deeply saddens me and angers me at once, to see these tick-infested, beaten animals dying.  The calf mortality is so high that the majority of these babies do not even see two years of life.  And during those two years….they never grew strong….like you and did.  They never had a life. They fought to try to live but struggled in misery the entire time……. and then they laid down and just died because they had absolutely northing left.  Literally, the life was sucked out of them.
 
And those truths make me cry…literally.   The winter tick is sick!   It is not something we just roll with.    It should make everyone want to find out how to stop this.  

BTW, I note that neither of you, nor anyone else on this forum has commented on my post about the the medication and a way to deliver it.  A better way would be salt licks infused with orally taken tick repellent.  I do not want to hear negative about…."Do you know how many salt licks that would require?"  Do you know how much money the state of Maine takes in in moose revenue?  I want feedback.

You will never see a group of 7 moose together on a body of water today.  I hate the moose season in Maine.   There I said it.  I HATE THE MOOSE SEASON.!!!!  Anybody got a problem with that?  The moose was doing just fine before the department decided to open the season.  And you said it Mark when I asked about the money.  Think about it…a lottery put on wildlife?  A lottery…really?  I hate the moose lottery.  

But, if they could take that money and come up with a way to beat the tick, then the lottery might be worth it.

I stand by my comment on the southern end of the range.  Sure the moose extends down into southern New England states….but it is fragmented from the contiguous southern edge of the boreal forest south.   I went through a section of Mass several years ago to the Univ of Mass and it was like a piece of northern Maine.  As one goes westerly, the winters are colder because of the land mass and Vermont and NH are of course moose states.  but Mass and Conn? You can call them moose states if you like.  I don't.  

Mark, I did not know that Canada is having Winter Tick problems too.   I am just learning about this Winter tick thing.  

And yes, fire would decimate the tick population (locally; i.e. where the fire reached) and have a minimal negative effect on the wildlife. Trouble is that much of the tick population would be on moose during the fire.   

BTW….a large wildfire is inevitable in the future of northern Maine.  It is just a matter of time.  And the conditions are becoming more conducive for it.

WDCarrier wrote:

Blck-shouldered Kite wrote:[table][tr][td]The list is very long of literature that documents the past use of fire to kill ticks.   Here is just one publication. 

http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/using-fire-to-improve-wildlife-habitat.pdf

There should be a modern study done in the northeastern U.S. to determine the effectiveness of fire as a tool to control ticks.  

Any fire in the woods of northern Maine would most likely occur in the Autumn because of the reduced relative humidity and the drastic increase in fine, dead forest material. 

Let me put it this way: If we saw such a widespread forest fire in northern Maine in the Autumn, one of the very positive aspects of it would be a drastic reduction in the tick infestation the following Spring.  I believe it is just that simple.  

I believe a widespread forest fire in northern Maine would prove to be largely beneficial.  When I say the North Maine Woods, I think I am largely referring to the slash fields and surrounding areas.  [/td]
[/tr]
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Fire prevention, especially in fire-adapted ecosystems, is like heroin...once you begin to use it you can't stop.  The current devastating California fires are a prime example.  If the normal pattern of periodic fires had been maintained there wouldn't be enough fuel to allow the catastrophic fires we're having this year as there would have been natural fuel breaks from the periodic smaller fires.  But we love our native vegetation and trees so we protect them to death (and build our homes within them!).  Of course, drought doesn't help matters but historical fire frequency is evident.  I just returned from Sequoia National Park where all (and I really mean ALL) of the large redwood trees show heavy evidence of past fire.  Yet, the forest floor is currently littered with fuels from fire suppression in the past century and with the right conditions fire will change the area forever.

You are one who has an understanding of the inevitability of wildfire.  Thank you.  :)  

You want an idea Robert, how about driving domestic livestock through the brush in the late winter, early spring to gather up all the ticks which can be eradicated with a chemical bath. Goats, sheep cattle all can be used.

Another article on the ticks:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/ener ... r/?ref=yfp

Joe