I promised in my “Fish Rots” blog that I would complete the story of the wolf, moose, moose tick, and Canada Jay connection. Here it is.

****

Years ago, after dinner at a winter Outdoor Education Conference in Dorset, Ontario, attendees were invited to a special seminar in the centre’s theatre. The title was “What Makes a Moose Tick?” being presented by one of the Frost Centre’s eminent biologists. It had been a long day setting ski trails, snowshoeing, and tracking wildlife. People were tired, and the theatre was warm, especially the upper balcony. I was just about to nod off, when the presenter arrived on stage.

Everyone sat bolt upright. This long lean man wearing outrageous cargo shorts, sandals with socks, a wild T-shirt, and fake moose antlers on his head took the stage. It was the most engaging session I had been to in a very long time. No one in the audience fell asleep!

During one of his wildlife data collection studies, this wildlife biologist had observed a mangy, emaciated male moose rubbing himself furiously against the bark of a tree. Normally a Moose like this would have been taken down by the wolf pack, but the wolves had been culled from the area. This moose actually rubbed himself to death on the tree. When the biologists examined it, they found the moose absolutely covered in ticks. In the absence of wolf, the tick had become predator.

Enter the male Canada Jay who uses the moose tick like a starry eyed bachelor uses a Spence diamonds ad. The female Jay can’t resist, and voila, love is in the air, followed by lots of baby Canada Jays

The pattern here is simple. Remove the primary predator, and the prey population booms. Then a secondary predator population rises quickly, along with everything that uses the new predator as a source for food and avian lust.  The moose were suffering, but the Canada Jays were loving it, literally. Nothing like a fat juicy moose tick to make your feathers fluff up

Fortunately in this case, humans learned their lesson. The bounty on wolves was removed, and the top predators slowly returned to the area. Healthy moose, healthy wolves, fewer ticks, and a lot of highly competitive love starved Canada Jays.

Life in balance. The way I see it.

***

images from CBC, Manitoba Wildlife, Wikipedia