Moose

While a member of the deer family, the impressive moose is far from delicate. Sporting the largest antlers in the world, a moose can be more than six feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 1,800 pounds. Moose are so tall they prefer to eat shrubs and tall grasses because grazing on the ground can be difficult! Warming temperatures have led to an explosion of white-tailed deer population in northern Minnesota, which carry a parasitic worm that is deadly to moose. The worm damages the moose’s central nervous system, leaving it weak, disoriented, and susceptible to predation. Global warming is also allowing dog ticks to expand northward in Maine, which hurts the moose population of the Northeast.

Scientific name: Alces alces
Region: Midwest, Northeast