MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Russ Mitchell – “Water temperatures are far warmer than usual for this time of year. Fish have had an extra long growing season and the arrival of yellow bass in the area a decade ago may have caused a population explosion in the Iowa Great Lakes.

Some, or all of those factors may be contributing to an unsettling scene along the shores of Dickinson County lakes this fall. Bass carcasses can be seen every few steps along the beach at Pikes Point State Park, which is on the northern shore of West Lake Okoboji. The die-off is affecting primarily East and West Lakes Okoboji and the lower chain of lakes.

‘It looks like a fairly significant fish kill,’ said Mike Hawkins of the Iowa DNR. ‘I wouldn’t say it’s minor. There’s thousands of fish being affected. I don’t have a real good handle on whether we’re still ongoing or if it’s finished up or curtailing. It’s kind of hard to tell, but we’re continuing to see dead fish on the shoreline.’

The fisheries biologist was first called out to the State Pier area near Arnolds Park Amusement Park on Sept. 4.

‘That’s where we could see some live fish, out away from shore — but they were acting sick,’ he said. ‘There were some dead fish on the shore.’

Hawkins then went to Brown’s Bay, on the south end of West Lake Okoboji.

‘By going down to Brown’s Bay, you’re looking at a different part of the lake,’ he said. ‘It’s pretty hard, in a lake that size, to put enough pollutant in to have an effect on fish. Seeing some dead fish down in Brown’s Bay is kind of an indicator that it is disease-related.’

Live bass samples have been sent to a wildlife service office in LaCrosse, Wis. Staff members at a fish health and disease center there will try to determine whether the bass disease is viral or bacterial.” Read more.

By Kelly Roberts – “TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) – This summer’s drought effects are expanding into hunting season. Thousands of the state’s deer are dying. Biologists believe the deer are infected with a virus that causes Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD.

‘It’s a virus, and it’s spread by a small biting insect called a midge,’ Department of Natural Resource’s District Biologist Dean Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said EHD has been seen in deer since the 1990s, but this year’s outbreak is more extreme, and it can be blamed on the drought. Zimmerman said the dry weather is perfect for midge reproduction…

Zimmerman said a deer with EHD will have flu-like symptoms, and can act distracted. He believes dead deer found in Tippecanoe, Carroll and Cass counties had the virus…

As more dead deer are discovered, Zimmerman said it’s becoming more likely it will affect hunters for years to come.” Read more.

Flashback: Disease Kills Hundreds, Possibly Thousands Of Deer In The North Carolina Foothills, ‘They Are Decaying From The Inside Out’ – “A disease is killing deer by the hundreds in the North Carolina foothills… ‘They act sick; they stumble around; they hold their head low,’ Ray said… ‘I’ve never experienced deer smelling like these have,’ Haley said. ‘They are decaying from the inside out.’ Wildlife biologists fear the number of cases in Caldwell County may actually be much higher than 500. Those are just the reported cases — the number of deaths could be in the thousands.” Read more.

Flashback: Wyoming: Massive Black Hills Deer Die-Off Could Be Worst In Decades – “Wildlife officials knew some deer would die in the Black Hills this fall. No one expected what could be the worst die-off in decades… ‘Our deer numbers are down right now anyway, and this sure isn’t helping anything,’ said Joe Sandrini, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist based in Newcastle.” Read more.

WSOCTV – “CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — A disease is killing deer by the hundreds in the North Carolina foothills.

Most of the people Eyewitness News talked with reported seeing the deer carcasses near creeks in northern Caldwell County. Wildlife biologists said that’s because the deer look for a cool place after their temperature spikes while fighting off the virus.

State wildlife biologist Danny Ray has fielded calls on dying deer much of the last two months. The virus killing the animals is called hemorrhagic disease.

‘They act sick; they stumble around; they hold their head low,’ Ray said.

Experts said the virus is in various parts of North Carolina, but the hardest-hit is an area of northern Caldwell County.

Homeowner Don Edwards said he found a dead deer in his pond.

‘Everybody has a story that they’ve seen one,’ Edwards said. ‘The big fields across the street — there’s one a week.’…

But it is something few people in the area will forget.

‘I’ve never experienced deer smelling like these have,’ Haley said. ‘They are decaying from the inside out.’

Wildlife biologists fear the number of cases in Caldwell County may actually be much higher than 500. Those are just the reported cases — the number of deaths could be in the thousands.” Read more.

Flashback: Wyoming: Massive Black Hills Deer Die-Off Could Be Worst In Decades – “Wildlife officials knew some deer would die in the Black Hills this fall. No one expected what could be the worst die-off in decades… ‘Our deer numbers are down right now anyway, and this sure isn’t helping anything,’ said Joe Sandrini, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist based in Newcastle.” Read more.

Flashback: Illinois: Virus Previously Unknown To Area Kills Hundreds Of Deer Around Chicago – “Hundreds of deer in the Chicago area have been killed by a virus previously unknown in the area. The Daily Herald reports that roughly 200 deer in Cook County have died. Six suspected cases have been reported in Kane County.” Read more.

Flashback: Virus Killing Hundreds Of Deer In Michigan, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Arkansas … – “Hundreds of deer in eight Michigan counties have died from a viral disease that is on the rise nationwide because of hot, dry weather, state officials said Thursday… ‘We are seeing a large die-off of deer in local areas. To date we have over 900 reports of dead deer across all (eight) counties…’” Read more.

By CHRISTINE PETERSON, Casper Star-Tribune – “CASPER, Wyo. — Wildlife officials knew some deer would die in the Black Hills this fall. No one expected what could be the worst die-off in decades.

Called epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, the disease typically strikes fawns and bucks and is worse during droughts. Biologists first found the disease in the Black Hills in the 1950s.

‘Our deer numbers are down right now anyway, and this sure isn’t helping anything,’ said Joe Sandrini, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist based in Newcastle.

The disease is spread by a type of biting gnat. White-tailed deer are most often affected. It’s worse during dry years because deer congregate in larger groups near diminishing water sources. A hard frost will kill the gnats, but when temperatures don’t drop low enough, the gnats — and the disease — persist, Sandrini said.

It cannot be spread to humans or most other wildlife and is not a threat to humans, Sandrini said.

Dying deer may be lethargic, appear to be drooling and congregate near water. If a deer succumbs to the disease, it typically dies within three days of infection, Sandrini said.

Biologists won’t know the extent of the die-off until mid-October after they begin calculating the herd estimates. It seems to be worse in the northern part of the Black Hills, Sandrini said.

Sundance Game Warden Chris Teter started fielding calls from concerned residents around the first of September and has since received dozens reporting dead or dying deer.

‘I’ve not had this many calls ever before, even during an outbreak,’ said Teter, who has been the game warden for 22 years.” Read more.

Flashback: Illinois: Virus Previously Unknown To Area Kills Hundreds Of Deer Around Chicago – “Hundreds of deer in the Chicago area have been killed by a virus previously unknown in the area. The Daily Herald reports that roughly 200 deer in Cook County have died. Six suspected cases have been reported in Kane County. The disease is known as EHD, or epizootic hemorrhagic disease. It’s a virus that kills deer in about a week and is spread among them by bites from flies known as midges.” Read more.

Flashback: Virus Killing Hundreds Of Deer In Michigan, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Arkansas … – “Hundreds of deer in eight Michigan counties have died from a viral disease that is on the rise nationwide because of hot, dry weather, state officials said Thursday… ‘We are seeing a large die-off of deer in local areas. To date we have over 900 reports of dead deer across all (eight) counties,’ stated Tom Cooley, DNR wildlife biologist and pathologist.” Read more.

By Lauren Edmundson – “At least 2000 birds have died from an outbreak of avian botulism in Portland, Oregon. This outbreak could reduce the area’s migratory bird population significantly. Officials are currently working to contain the outbreak.

Avian botulism is caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which is found in the soil and activated by warm temperatures. Experts believe that the warm weather combined with decomposing plant materials have led to elevated bacteria levels in the area.

Birds can be infected with avian botulism through consuming the bacteria directly or by consuming other invertebrates that are infected with the bacteria. In this outbreak, maggots have been feeding on dead birds, and other birds become infected by eating these maggots.

For this reason, experts are focusing on clean up of sick and dead birds as the primary means of prevention. Dan Moeller, Metro’s Natural Areas Land Manager, explained to Portland’s local news station, KGW, ‘If groups of scientists and workers aren’t out here collecting the dead materials then it can spread very quickly. And that’s what we’ve been doing ever since we found it was occurring, was to get out here as quickly as possible.'” Read more.

By MARK PRIGG – “The infection is as grim as it sounds: ‘Zombie bees’ have a parasite that causes them to fly at night and lurch around erratically until they die.

And experts say the condition has crept into Washington state.

‘I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house,’ said Mark Hohn, a novice beekeeper who spotted the infected insects at his suburban Seattle home.

Hohn returned from vacation a few weeks ago to find many of his bees either dead or flying in jerky patterns and then flopping on the floor.

He remembered hearing about zombie bees, so he collected several of the corpses and popped them into a plastic bag. About a week later, the Kent man had evidence his bees were infected: the pupae of parasitic flies.

‘Curiosity got the better of me,’ Hohn said.

The zombie bees were the first to be confirmed in Washington state, The Seattle Times reported.

San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik first discovered zombie bees in California in 2008.

Hafernik now uses a website to recruit citizen scientists like Hohn to track the infection across the country.

Observers also have found zombie bees in Oregon and South Dakota.

The infection is another threat to bees that are needed to pollinate crops.

Hives have been failing in recent years due to a mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder, in which all the adult honey bees in a colony suddenly die.” Read more.

Flashback: Honeybee Populations — Responsible for 90% of All Commercial Pollination — Continue to Disappear, Will Impact Humans – “Best known for prompting shrieks and swatting of air, bees rarely receive proper recognition for their contributions to humankind. But now that they are disappearing by the thousands, it will be up to humans to ensure their survival. Over the past five years, about 30 percent of the yearly captive honeybee population has died every winter, according to CNN, and about 10 percent of bees simply vanish… Though some crops such as wheat are pollinated by the wind, honeybees are responsible for the 90 percent of all commercial pollination, according to an article in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.” Read more.