Moose are iconic to New Hampshire’s landscape. To lovers of the large, cold-climate animals, they represent the wilderness of northern New England. But it’s not always easy to find them.
I have only seen a moose twice despite living in New Hampshire for 25 years. So I decided to go on a moose tour with my producer, Mary McIntyre, who’s never seen a moose before.
“It’s a dream of mine,” she says, standing near a moose sculpture in the Lincoln parking lot for our moose tour. We are determined to make the dream come true tonight.
Moose are most active at dusk and dawn so we board the Pemi Valley Moose Tour bus at 8 p.m. Larry Hartle runs this operation, and he says he’s extended the length of the tour because now it’s harder to find moose in the area. This means, we'll likely be done between 11 p.m. and midnight.
"[If it's] 11 that means we struck it rich out there with the moose," Hartle says. "[If it's] midnight, it means the moose are making us work because every night's a little bit different.”
The moose population in New Hampshire has significantly declined over the years. According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, there were about 7,000 moose here in the year 2000. Now, the population is half of that.
So the tour guides have to get really familiar with the animal’s favorite haunts. One of those guides, Eric Pyra, warns us the moose can be unpredictable.
“This is our 26th summer of doing it. And we know where they tend to be, but not always where they're going to be,” Pyra says. “It used to be like fishing in a barrel. ‘There's a moose, there's a moose.’ Now it's a little tougher, but we're pretty stubborn.”
Climate change holds some responsibility for their decline. Winter ticks and brainworm are two parasites that are devastating moose here. Those parasites would normally be staved off by deep snow and cold temperatures, but now they’re enabled by the warmer winters in New Hampshire.
On the tour bus, Pyra and Hartle are trying to bring moose sightings into being with positive thoughts, or as they call it, "moose mojo."
“That's positive energy to bring the moose,” Hartle explains to the crowd on the bus. “Do you guys have it tonight?” The crowd cheers before being led into a moose cheerleading chant.
The tour guides work the crowd, playing educational videos on moose, moose-themed music, and colored dancing lights that turn this moose search into a disco.
But after nearly four hours of scanning the forests with spotlights, it looks like the mojo isn’t working tonight. We leave the bus around midnight without seeing a moose. The guides are heartbroken on our behalf.
“A little bit of a rough night. All right, a lot of a rough night,” Pyra says.
At the beginning of the tour, Hartle reminded the crowd that the moose are wild animals, not performers.
“The moose teach us a lesson every now and then,” says Pyra.
But there are plenty of times when the moose mojo is with the guides. Just a few nights later, three moose made an appearance on the Pemi Valley Moose Tour.
