Overview
- Trail-camera images from Vermont’s Green Mountain National Forest show moths sipping a bull moose’s tears, with the finding published in Ecosphere.
- The event is the first documented case involving a moose and only the second recorded outside tropical regions, following a 1972 report from a horse in Arkansas.
- A colleague later filmed another Vermont instance of the tear-drinking behavior, reinforcing the initial observation.
- Researchers describe the behavior, known as lachryphagy, as a strategy for insects to obtain minerals and other nutrients.
- An entomologist notes the scarcity of temperate records may stem from limited observation or declines in moth species and abundance.