MARQUETTE, MI-- The Department of Natural Resources had a hard time counting moose this winter.
The aerial count helps determine the health of a population by charting its growth or decline. Wildlife
research biologist Dean Beyer says the best time to observe U.P. moose is January, but the count ran into problems when temperatures rose and the snow melted.
“All of a sudden there’s all kinds of logs and rocks and root masses out there that are uncovered, and so you have a whole lot of dark objects out in the woods which makes it really hard to count moose,” he says.
Researchers waited for additional snowfall, but excessive snow and high winds prevented them from flying. Beyer notes, however, that in early January they were able to complete surveys for the core area of the moose range in Marquette, Baraga and Iron counties. They hope to release a population estimate for the core area this summer.
In 2015 the DNR estimated there were 323 moose in the U.P.
