That's just awful and crazy how one creature can be ok with it and it totally devistate the population of another species.
There was a moose here for about a week last year and finally died in someone's yard. Pretty sure it was determined it was down here and died because of that parasite. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
Well, see, down here in the great state of Georgia, we have whitetail deer, small whitetail deer, big whitetail deer and medium whitetail deer. So we don't know about any diversity unless it's pigs in the southern part of the state or maybe a piebald or albino one of the neighbors sees.
Historically speaking, whitetails & moose didn't share habitat. The whitetail moved in with the logging that was done in the late 1800's - early to mid 1900's. Prior to that there were only moose and woodland caribou here. I believe the brain worm can be harmful to mule deer, and elk as well?
So only the whitetail survive. That's survival of the fittest. From what I had read the deer kept moving north bc of habitat loss or the logging as you said and it's just crazy to see a non native species kinda take over.
I believe the parasite and whitetails coevolved over time so they can coexist. As they move into new areas, other ungulates pick them up and can die from it because they have no defenses. When that happens the worm cannot pass its larva through its natural cycle either. Just one of those things I guess.
