FARMINGTON — Western Maine Audubon will hold a program on “Moose and Winter Ticks” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Room 101, Roberts Learning Center, University of Maine, Farmington.

Moose are big and ticks are small, but when encumbered with thousands of them, an adult moose can be bled to death by winter ticks over a season. In the mid-West some moose herds have been cut in half by this affliction and are in jeopardy. While the problem is far less severe here, winter tick infestations are seriously hurting moose populations in New England as well.

Lee Kantar is the Moose Project Leader for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. He has worked for the department for the last nine years, starting out as the deer project leader until 2013.

He will discuss current research on adult female and calf mortality in Maine moose, the role of the winter tick, and provide an overview of moose management in Maine including aerial surveys, moose harvest and reproduction.

Prior to working for MDIFW, Kantar was a district wildlife biologist for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He also worked as a wildlife area manager and wildlife biologist on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

Kantar received his master’s degree in wildlife science from New Mexico State University where he worked on an important interstate elk herd. He received his BS from the University of New Hampshire.

The program is free and open to the public.