I decided to dig deep and find some facts concerning moose populations in MN. I was looking for a moose census year by year but did not find a nice spreadsheet with that information. I did mind this publication,
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_w...osefaq.pdfHere is the summary
No real data for years prior to the logging and forest fires of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Year(s) Number of moose
1923 3000
1948 to 1970 5000-8000 Period of Global cooling. Scientist were thinking that a new ice age was coming.
1996 8400 in NE MN 1436 in NW MN. 1998 was the peak of the current global warming trend.
2013 2,760 within a range of 2,120-3,580.
If any of you remember the winter of 95/96 NE MN received over 12 feet of snow. That is deep for even a moose! If the issue was global warming the peak of the population should have been 1990-94. The second growth forest is between 80-100 years old now. It could be a factor. Disease could be stressing out the moose. Tick populations have been at an all time high around here. Maybe the moose migrated north?
My not fully informed opinion is, that it is not just one factor but several combining.
-MD