New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

moose

Snapshot NY Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring Project

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Black Bear mother and cub eating beside a field caught on Snapshot NY trail cameraSnapshot NY, a citizen science program created by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University in 2025, will begin Year Two in July.

The innovative program, which enables the public to participate in the state’s efforts to monitor wildlife by deploying privately-owned trail cameras, has already enlisted more than 800 volunteers. [Read more…] about Snapshot NY Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring Project

Moose That Closed Adirondack Hiking Trail Euthanized

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Bull Moose on Goodman Mountain in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest in Tupper Lake in 2025On August 6th, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) euthanized a bull moose on the Goodman Mountain Trail after confirming a significant decline in its health.

The moose was first sighted near the summit of Goodman Mountain in May when hikers reported the moose tolerating close human presence. [Read more…] about Moose That Closed Adirondack Hiking Trail Euthanized

Bull Moose Closes Popular Adirondack Goodman Mountain Trail

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Bull Moose on Goodman Mountain in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest in Tupper Lake in 2025The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has temporarily closed the Goodman Mountain Trail in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest in the town of Tupper Lake, due to the presence of a bull moose observed over an extended period of time. [Read more…] about Bull Moose Closes Popular Adirondack Goodman Mountain Trail

Ed Kanze’s Nature of the Place Reflects on Adirondack Flora and Fauna

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Nature of the PlaceThe Nature of the Place: On the Flora and Fauna of the Adirondacks (North Country Books, 2025) is Adirondack nature writer Edward Kanze’s invitation to slow down, smell the roses, and get to know fellow creatures with more longstanding claims to this landscape than we have.

Theirs is the real internet Kanze argues, a web of life that weaves together an almost infinite number of threads into a fabric that’s a wonder to behold and something close to a miracle in a largely hostile universe. [Read more…] about Ed Kanze’s Nature of the Place Reflects on Adirondack Flora and Fauna

Moose Rescued from Icy Adirondack Lake Waters

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DEC Forest Rangers and ECOs guide a moose that broke through ice back to shore in Hamilton County in January 2025New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Rangers and Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) this week rescued a moose that had broken through the ice and into the icy waters of Lake Abanakee in Hamilton County in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Moose Rescued from Icy Adirondack Lake Waters

Governor Kathy Hochul Vetoes Safe Wildlife Crossings Act

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on NYS Route 30 near Tupper Lake in October, 2024 (photo by Justin Levine of the Adirondack Council)New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed the Safe Wildlife Crossings Act, a bill designed to make highways safer for motorists and wildlife with purpose-built crossings in the New York’s North Country. The bill would have required the NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NYS Thruway Authority to conduct studies to determine the most hazardous areas of highways for vehicle-animal collisions and develop a plan to reduce those hazards. [Read more…] about Governor Kathy Hochul Vetoes Safe Wildlife Crossings Act

NYS Legislature Passes New York Wildlife Crossings Act

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New York State CapitolThe State Assembly and State Senate have both acted to pass the New York Wildlife Crossings Act, which was sponsored by Senator Leroy Comrie and Assembly Member Robert Carroll. The bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess roadways “in the state for potential wildlife crossings to improve wildlife habitat connectivity, reduce wildlife vehicle collisions, and increase public safety for New York motorists.” [Read more…] about NYS Legislature Passes New York Wildlife Crossings Act

Study May Show CWD in Whitetail Deer Can Be Transmitted to Humans

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whitetail deer courtesy DECA new study published in the journal Neurology highlights two cases of hunters who regularly ate chronic wasting disease (CWD) infected whitetail deer contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a degenerative brain disorder that leads to dementia and death. “Clusters of sporadic CJD cases may occur in regions with CWD-confirmed deer populations, hinting at potential cross-species prion transmission,” the study authors concluded. [Read more…] about Study May Show CWD in Whitetail Deer Can Be Transmitted to Humans

Drivers: Watch for Deer and Moose

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whitetail deer by Lacy RiversAccording to the University at Albany’s Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, in 2022, 41.5 percent of the crashes between whitetail deer and vehicles occurred during October, November and December.

Motorists should also be on alert for moose on roadways in the Adirondacks and surrounding areas this time of year. [Read more…] about Drivers: Watch for Deer and Moose

Moose in Rut

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Moose crossing a riverOn an October day years ago, my husband and I were canoeing on a pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. We heard crashing in the bushes along the shoreline just before a magnificent bull moose with large antlers appeared.

He plunged into the water and swam across the pond, only fifty feet from where we were floating quietly in our canoe. [Read more…] about Moose in Rut

Moose Music: Moans, Cries and Calls

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Moose provided by DECMost of the mammals that populate our wilderness, including the moose, are not known to produce much in the way of sounds.

Like the white-tailed deer, the moose is viewed as silently moving through our woodlands, except for the snapping of twigs and the rustling of leaves that it steps on, and brushes against as it meanders about the forest. [Read more…] about Moose Music: Moans, Cries and Calls

Report Moose Sightings to DEC

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Moose at Helldiver Pond in the Adirondacks' Moose River Plains (Photo by John Warren)DEC is asking the public to report moose sightings via an online form as part of ongoing efforts to monitor moose across New York.

While the Adirondacks are home to most New York moose, some live in the eastern part of the state along the Vermont and Massachusetts borders. Moose can also occasionally be found in southeastern New York and the Catskills, but these are usually individuals that have dispersed from other areas. [Read more…] about Report Moose Sightings to DEC

Dead Adirondack Moose Recovered By Researchers

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ECOs Favreau and Fadden recover moose collared with gps in the Adirondacks in April 2023 In early April New York State Environmental Conservation Officers and other Department of Environmental Conservation employees brought a dead yearling moose out of a heavily forested area in Onchiota, Franklin County, in the Adirondacks. DEC had fitted the moose with a GPS collar in 2022. The collar recently gave off a signal indicating the animal was no longer alive. [Read more…] about Dead Adirondack Moose Recovered By Researchers

Moose Are Back in New York State: A Population Update

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moose courtesy DECMoose have been present in the northern tier of New York since the Pleistocene. However, by as early as the 1860s over-exploitation and habitat degradation had extirpated moose from all of New York State.

In response, a handful of small-scale moose restoration efforts were undertaken between 1870 and 1902, but none proved successful. Over the next eighty years there were periodic moose sightings, but none seemed to suggest an established population. [Read more…] about Moose Are Back in New York State: A Population Update

A Celebration of Adirondack Moose

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Moose at Helldiver Pond in the Adirondacks' Moose River Plains (Photo by John Warren)There are several creatures that serve as symbols of the rugged and majestic character of the Great North Woods, yet none is as fitting as the moose. When initially seen, a moose may be perceived as being quite ugly and an unusual choice to represent the beauty of the northern wilderness. [Read more…] about A Celebration of Adirondack Moose

Advocates Urge NY Officials Not To Remove Wolf From Endangered Species List

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wolf courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and WildlifeAdirondack Council has called upon the NYS Dept. Environmental Conservation to drop a previously announced plan to remove the gray wolf from New York’s endangered species list. [Read more…] about Advocates Urge NY Officials Not To Remove Wolf From Endangered Species List

Adirondack Moose Research Project Launched

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DEC's moose research projectThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the start of a new moose research project in the Adirondack region. This winter, 14 moose were fitted with GPS collars as part of a multi-year project assessing moose health and population. [Read more…] about Adirondack Moose Research Project Launched

Moose, Winter Ticks and Fungi

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winter tick courtesy Emily S. Chenery Legend says a stake through the heart will kill a vampire. But it’s a bit more complicated if you’re plagued – as moose can be – by tens of thousands of tiny blood-suckers. In the case of moose, the vampires are winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), and finding a way to stake them has been tricky. However, recent research has found a potential – and microscopic – vampire hunter. [Read more…] about Moose, Winter Ticks and Fungi

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