How many moose are roaming the forests of northern Minnesota? You might think that number is somewhere around 4,500, based on the estimate released earlier this year by the DNR following their annual aerial survey.
But that survey only estimates the moose population in what the DNR has determined is the state’s primary moose range, which encompasses most of eastern St. Louis County, extending as far northwest as Crane Lake, and the bulk of Lake and Cook counties.
That leaves a lot of territory where moose are certainly found, just not in the densities more typical within the primary range.
Since the DNR does not survey moose numbers outside the primary range, we can only guess at the number of moose found outside those rather limited boundaries. The good news is that, from at least anecdotal evidence, including moose sign and moose sightings, the number of moose outside the primary range has been on the rise.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years in western parts of the Superior National Forest (outside the primary moose range) and spend most of my time on the old logging roads and trails around the Pfeiffer Lake area and the Lost Lake Swamp. Ten to fifteen years ago, I could go months or even years without seeing moose sign in that country. Now, I see moose sign virtually every time I walk, bike, or snowshoe in that area.
I’m not the only one to notice. Jessica Holmes, the Tower DNR’s area wildlife manager, told me recently that she’s also seeing more moose sign than in the recent past.
So is Tom Gable with the Voyageurs Wolf Project, who made note of the trend in a Facebook post last September.
“Over the past few years, we have captured an increasing number of videos of moose on our trail cameras, with last year being the largest number to date,” wrote Gable in the post, which accompanied a video montage of some of the best recent moose sightings from their trail camera network.
“Not only have we captured more moose, but we have captured more videos of moose with calves,” wrote Gable. “Last year, for example, we had footage of three cow moose that successfully reared twin calves until at least the fall. Before last year, we had only captured one instance of a cow with twins on camera over the course of several years.”
We’ve had more reports come into us at the paper, as well, over the past couple years from more area residents reporting moose sightings or videos, often of cow moose with twin calves, and that’s another encouraging indicator, since birthing twins is generally the sign of a female moose that’s in good health.
Gable also reports seeing more moose sign in the area while tending trail cams or spending time out in the woods in general.
“Of course, this does not mean moose are common or at high-densities,” continued Gable. “Rather, it just seems like they are more common than they were several years ago.”
All of Gable’s observations, it should be noted, are from the greater Voyageurs National Park ecosystem, virtually all of which is outside the state’s primary moose range.
As we’ve reported on many occasions in the past, moose numbers in the primary moose range declined fairly sharply for a few years starting around 2010, according to the DNR. That caused justifiable concern after the virtual collapse of the once-robust moose population in northwestern Minnesota beginning in the 1980s. The good news is that moose numbers have stabilized in the primary moose range, and we seem to be seeing an actual increase in moose numbers to the west of the primary range.
None of this should come as a surprise. We’ve written as well about the lower white-tailed deer numbers that we’ve seen in this same area over the past several years. Fewer deer likely means a lower incidence of deer parasites, like the brainworm P. tenuis and liver flukes, on the landscape. Those parasites are known to be harmful and often fatal to moose, so fewer deer provides the opportunity for moose to recover, a recovery that we now seem to be experiencing.