SW Indiana - This looks very much like EHD...

[MilkweedManiac]

Over the weekend I did some walking down a creek to grab a couple of cameras that had been out since March. As I approached the first camera I saw a dead deer, a young would-be fork horn. I tried to explain it away in my mind, but the fact that he died next to the creek and there were no marks on him at all except what the decomposers had done to him made me fear the worst.

Anyway, I grabbed the cameras and headed home. When I got there my wife tells me there is something floating in our pond. Sure enough, a nice doe is dead out in the middle with no signs of injury except what the snapping turtles had accomplished. I drug her out and to a low spot out of sight/smell and called the local DNR biologist for my county the next day. He thanked me very much for calling and informed me that calls had just begun coming in from other folks about dead deer near or in bodies of water. He said conditions are dry and very calm, perfect breeding and feeding territory for the midge that carries EHD. To make matters worse, an hour after I talked with him, I see ANOTHER deer floating out in the pond. This deer had JUST died within hours. No decomposing had taken place at all. So I pulled that deer out of the water and moved it over to the same location as the other one.
Tally so far is two mature does and one fork-horn.

It’s like something out of a freaky movie.

Anyway, just a heads up for others in the state to keep an eye out near creeks or ponds, especially if the smell of carrion is evident.

The biologist may be sending someone out to grab samples. If so, I will update if anything is confirmed or disputed.

 

[Mortenson]

Ugh not good news. Hope you found all you're going to find. It shows up every year in most areas to varying degrees. We are getting really dry here as well, so it's on my mind. I thought we escaped it last year, but then I found a killer young 2.5 yr old buck dead in the creek in Nov, but it's rack had that ehd look where every point was razor sharp and the bumps around the bases were too.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Yes, I know it’s selfish, but there are three deer in particular I really hope make it.

I also felt some sympathy for the fawn of the doe I found today. She was full of milk. Hopefully the little deer finds a way.

 

[bwoods11]

That’s bad news

 

[John-W-WI]

There aren't a lot of advantages of living this far north. But never seeing EHD has to be one of them. I feel for you that get it. Has to be a real bummer.


-John

 

[indiana boy]

Unfortunately it is coming. If we dont get some measurable rain to get these water holes flushed out its almost certainly going to happen.

 

[Bill]

Sorry to hear that. I start worrying every year around this time. So far our water levels are not to bad.

 

[Baker]

A biologist once told me the first sign of EHD in a deer is death.. Tough stuff and not much you can do about it

 

[j-bird]

As I understand it EHD kills deer every year. Indian got it's first real taste of it a few years ago (I want to say roughly 2012 - but I would have to look at my data to feel real comfortable with that date). What is frustrating is how EHD is sort of written off and the DNR has no real idea on the impact it has on our herd. I don't have the data, but I feel safe to say that we Hoosiers loose more deer to EHD than any other cause other than hunting and vehicle accidents. I would have to look to see if they are still doing it, but either the DNR or and group of Indiana deer hunters had started an EHD tracker on their web site so folks could see how things looked. August is "that" time for us. I actually thought about it over the weekend as I looked at a small water hole I have. Sorry for your losses, but there isn't really much I think that can be done. The hot dry weather pulls the deer to the reduced water resources where the midge thrives in the mud....and as such makes the spread of EHD much simpler.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

Yes. I went out last night and the swarms were in full effect around the pond. I braced myself when I looked out the window this morning. It's nature's way, and boy is she ever cruel at times.

 

[swat1018]

As I understand it EHD kills deer every year. Indian got it's first real taste of it a few years ago (I want to say roughly 2012 - but I would have to look at my data to feel real comfortable with that date). What is frustrating is how EHD is sort of written off and the DNR has no real idea on the impact it has on our herd. I don't have the data, but I feel safe to say that we Hoosiers loose more deer to EHD than any other cause other than hunting and vehicle accidents. I would have to look to see if they are still doing it, but either the DNR or and group of Indiana deer hunters had started an EHD tracker on their web site so folks could see how things looked. August is "that" time for us. I actually thought about it over the weekend as I looked at a small water hole I have. Sorry for your losses, but there isn't really much I think that can be done. The hot dry weather pulls the deer to the reduced water resources where the midge thrives in the mud....and as such makes the spread of EHD much simpler.

Indiana has had it since before 2012. It wiped out my place in Ohio County in 2008. There were log jams of deer in the creeks. Worst I've ever seen.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

I found two more this evening back at a different creek branch that I hadn’t visited for a while. One had been dead a while (2-3 weeks). The other smelled fresh enough to lead me to it. That’s 4 does and 1 young buck so far. So sad. Ironically, I did see three deer on the way back to the house, so there are still a few fighting it.

 

[yoderjac]

We get EHD down here. There is an acute form that kills a lot of deer. It seems to run in cycles of roughly 7 years. Typically find them around water. Deer act weird and don't run from people for a period before they die. I believe it is transmitted by a midge. There is also a chronic form. This is seen in deer that get the infection but are able to survive. You will often see sloughing of their hooves.

It is not the end of the world, but it is no fun either.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[j-bird]

I found two more this evening back at a different creek branch that I hadn’t visited for a while. One had been dead a while (2-3 weeks). The other smelled fresh enough to lead me to it. That’s 4 does and 1 young buck so far. So sad. Ironically, I did see three deer on the way back to the house, so there are still a few fighting it.

Please keep reporting these deer to the DNR.....

 

[MilkweedManiac]

I certainly did!

 

[MilkweedManiac]

I had left a message with our county Wildlife Biologist concerning the additional two deer. He let me know that he is receiving calls from all over Southern Indiana right now and that it looks to be a substantial outbreak for this area.

 

[cspot]

In PA we seem to get a bad outbreak of EHD about every 5 years. Not sure why but it seems to run in that cycle. Before they also said that it would occur during drought conditions, but 2 years ago it was extremely wet and they said all the additional rain caused more mud puddles. I am not really sure if the amount of rain has much to do with it.

On a local level it can be really devasting to the deer population.

 

[bjseiler]

Has Indiana published anywhere that this is happening and where?

 

[j-bird]

Has Indiana published anywhere that this is happening and where?

Not that I am aware of. The last time it got bad, I didn't see anything published with any sort of real data behind it. Indiana struggles with this sort of thing....real time data. We have real time for harvest numbers but that is because it's all an automated computer based system now. IDNR doesn't have enough boots on the ground to confirm all these cases and to my knowledge even if they are trying to track reports and the like....I am not aware of a means for them to communicate it to us in real-time. We may see it in the harvest report that will come out next year...unless they publish some sort of update or the like....I don;t expect to see much....officially.

 

[MilkweedManiac]

J-Bird is correct. I have done a quick search each night and kept an eye on the webpage for over a week but I don’t see any kind of update.

I do follow a few habitat pages on other sites and I have noticed that it is starting to be mentioned by hunters in places like Kansas and Iowa.