MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“HELENA — Montana wildlife officials say dozens of white-tailed deer have been found dead or dying in northeastern Montana’s Milk River Valley and surrounding areas since the beginning of August.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say they don’t know what’s caused the deaths, but they suspect it may be epi-zootic hemorrhagic disease.

The disease, which affects white-tailed deer, is marked by hemorrhaging, fever, and an urge to be near fresh water to cool down.

FWP spokesman Ron Selden says samples sent to a state lab to determine the cause of the deaths won’t be returned until next week.

He says the agency is asking residents’ help in learning the extent of the outbreak locations by calling the FWP office in Glasgow at 406-228-3700 when they spot an affected animal.” Source.

Season’s First Outbreak of EHD Detected in Montana – “Mature bucks are dead. Does are dead. Yearlings are dead. Today I diagnosed why one of my irrigation turnouts wasn’t flowing as it should. It was blocked by the carcass of a fawn so young it still carried its spots. We haven’t heard an official diagnosis from Fish, Wildlife & Parks, but it has all the makings of an epidemic of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD. Sometimes mistakenly called blue-tongue, the disease strikes whitetails later in the summer in years like this when the temperature spikes, and the biting black midge that carries the disease has plenty of wet habitat in which to breed. I’m curious how widespread this outbreak is. Given the hot weather and above-average rainfall this year, I’m guessing conditions are ripe for an EHD outbreak all the way down the Missouri River basin.” Read more.