Category Archives: North Dakota

EHD News

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It’s been a quiet summer for epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in deer. Either conditions didn’t favor the biting midges that spread the disease among deer, or the northern states that experience periodic fatal outbreaks of the disease are becoming used to the new normal.

EHD season isn’t over, though, as these two news items show. Reuters says that wildlife managers in Montana are trying to pin down the cause of death for 100 white-tailed deer along the Clark Fork River. EHD had not been previously found in Montana west of the Continental Divide, the article says.

Read the Reuters story here.

In North Dakota, there is no doubt that EHD is the cause of deer deaths there. An Associated Press story says that North Dakota’s Game and Fish Department has suspended the sale of 1,000 doe hunting licenses because of an EHD outbreak that began in August and continues, the article quotes ND wildlife Chief Randy Kreil as saying.

Read the AP article in South Carolina’s The State, here.

 

March Roundup of New Research

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Spring is here and a bunch of wildlife surveys are underway around the country.

In Delaware:
-It’s the fifth and final year of the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas.
-A special effort is being made in 2012 to tally owls as part of the atlas.
–Horseshoe crabs are being tallied again, and volunteers are being trained.
-The annual osprey count is offering a volunteer training for the first time since 2007.

Maryland is two years in to four years of surveys for an amphibian and reptile atlas and is looking for volunteers.

In Kansas, they are searching for lesser prairie chicken breeding areas, or leks, from the air with helicopters. Field crews will train on March 29-31 and conduct official survey work across all of western Kansas until the middle of May. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is also asking people to report leks. The survey is part of a five-state effort, and the survey technique will be evaluated.

In North Dakota, the Game and Fish Department has launched a two-year study of white-tailed deer in intensely farmed agricultural areas.

In Maine, biologists at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have visited up to 100 dens each winter for 37 years, making the survey in the nation’s oldest radio-collar monitoring program for bears. This year the Maine Sunday Telegram wrote a story about it, with lots of pics. Read it here.

And in Washington, commuters have been reporting wildlife sightings for over a year on the I-90 corridor in anticipation of road improvements. The project’s first annual report was released recently, generating articles in the Everett Herald  and The Seattle Times, and coverage other media.

Photo of I-90 Wildlife Watch billboard by Paula MacKay/Western Transportation Institute, used by permission.

EHD Impacts Deer Population in Northern Plains

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According to the Associated Press, epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has killed 90 percent of the white-tail deer along a 100 miles stretch in northeastern Montana. Other outbreaks were recorded in the Northern Plains states of North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas.

The outbreak lead to a reduction in the number of white-tail hunting tags available in Montana, and a refund for tags already sold in North Dakota.

A wet spring and summer, plus a warm autumn meant that the biting midges that spread the disease were particularly numerous in the region this year.

Read the entire Associated Press story via the Yahoo! news site, here.

The silver lining, the article says, is that streamside cottonwood groves may be able to rebound while the white-tail deer population is in decline.

Photo: A biting midge, courtesy of USDA

EHD Impacts Deer Population in Northern Plains

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According to the Associated Press, epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has killed 90 percent of the white-tail deer along a 100 miles stretch in northeastern Montana. Other outbreaks were recorded in the Northern Plains states of North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas.

The outbreak lead to a reduction in the number of white-tail hunting tags available in Montana, and a refund for tags already sold in North Dakota.

A wet spring and summer, plus a warm autumn meant that the biting midges that spread the disease were particularly numerous in the region this year.

Read the entire Associated Press story via the Yahoo! news site, here.

The silver lining, the article says, is that streamside cottonwood groves may be able to rebound while the white-tail deer population is in decline.

Photo: A biting midge, courtesy of USDA

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease – Update

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It is the season of biting midges, and therefore the season for epizootic hemorrhagic disease in deer.

In Kansas, there have been several reports of dead or dieing deer. Two of those cases have been confirmed as epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), or EH, as this article in InfoZine that reported the outbreak calls it. Read the story here.

EHD is cited as the likely source of dead and dieing deer in Montana, in this article from the Liberty County Times.

Read the ProMed entries on both these events for background, wise commentary and corrections to the articles. The comments are at the bottom of the page in [brackets]. Read it here.

There is a possible outbreak in North Dakota. It is still being investigated. Read the story in the Bismark Tribune.

And finally, two weeks ago New Jersey announced a possible outbreak of EHD. We posted that as an addition to that week’s wildlife disease update, but in case you missed it, here’s the press release.

Late addition: On Sept. 7, 2011, New York State has announced that the death of 100 deer in Rockland County two weeks ago was caused by EHD. Read the press release here.

Photo: A healthy deer. Photo credit: Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife