Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Disease similar to bluetongue taking out deer in north county
DAVENPORT—Reports of white-tailed deer dying from Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD, are increasing in the Inland Northwest this year. The reported deaths, which are normally around 25 a year, have reached the hundreds within the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The deaths have been reported around Lincoln County, Whitman County, Spokane and Colville.
“We don’t have a way to survey exactly where all the deer are dying, but it’s more about the general magnitude of all the reports,” said Fish and Wildlife Spokane District Wildlife Biologist Michael Atamian. “We’ve gotten hundreds of reports this year. It’s normally a couple dozen.”
EHD is a hemorrhagic disease that’s been in the Columbia Basin for decades, but this year’s outbreak is much more significant than most years. The disease is transmitted by gnat bites and is similar to the blue tongue disease that has affected deer and bighorn sheep in the area in the past decade.
Atamian said a predominant reason for this year’s outbreak is the drought-like conditions caused by a lack of precipitation.
“Gnats breed in wetlands and muddy areas,” Atamian said. “When there’s a drought and more water holes dry up, deer will concentrate to the remaining water holes, which brings more deer to potential exposure.”
The gnats aren’t picking white-tailed deer to bite over mule deer. However, white-tailed deer almost always get the short end of the stick between the two species.
“Typically, very few white-tail survive, and mule deer almost always do,” Atamian said. “That’s not to say white-tail never survive and mule deer never die, but that’s usually how it goes.”
Atamian added that reports of blue tongue have occurred this year, but aren’t nearly as frequent as EHD. No reports of blue tongue from the Lincoln County herd of bighorn sheep have come in, he said.
The gnats don’t discriminate by age or sex, killing bucks, does and fawns alike. Therefore, Atamian said, the outbreak will lessen buck hunting prospects amongst white-tailed deer.
“This will reduce available bucks for hunting,” he said. “It’s a fairly widespread outbreak.”
Fish and Wildlife doesn’t spend time physically walking around looking for dead deer. Instead, the department relies on reports from residents or hunters who stumble upon a deceased white-tail. Therefore, the number of reports are higher in more populated areas.
“The largest area of reports is in Whitman County by Colfax. We’ve also gotten a lot around Spokane, because of the large population,” Atamian said. “We’ve also gotten some up in Colville.”
Most reports in Lincoln County have been north toward Lake Roosevelt and extended east, which is a more wildlife-inhabited area. However, some reports have gone as far south and west as Harrington, which usually sees more mule deer than white-tail.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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