The southern suburban area of Crete, Illinois, has seen a recent increase in the number of deer deaths. Residents are finding dying or dead deer in forests and backyards on the eastern perimeter of Will County. This area was once home to over 600 deer but that figure is quickly decreasing.
According to David Green, a resident of Crete, “This morning, another died in my boss’ backyard. They’re all over the place. The smell is horrendous.” Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, is being attributed as the cause for the deaths of over 30 of these deer. Late last month, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources began investigating the situation and pointed to EHD as their finding.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that EHD is commonly found in white-tailed deer but rarely occurs in other species. Biting gnats are the carriers of the disease so it usually occurs during the driest part of the year. EHD is not contagious between deer and cannot be transferred to humans.
This disease incubates for five to ten days and usually recedes once cold, wet weather arrives and causes the deer to move from areas infested by gnats. The gnats are killed by the first hard frost, which effectively reduces the spread of EHD. However, deer who have already contracted the disease may still be in the incubation stage at this time, so additional casualties may be found after this period.
Signs of EHD include frothing from the mouth, a swollen tongue that turns blue, disorientation, lethargy, unresponsiveness toward humans, and death near a water source. Crete residents have reported seeing deer with all of these symptoms in the local area. Though Mr. Green states, “We’re just accumulating so many of them it’s scary,” this outbreak is relatively small. During 2007, a major outbreak in the state resulted in 1,900 deer casualties within 57 counties.
Source: SouthtownStar. Chicago Sun-Times. Virus killing deer near south suburb.
Related Posts-
![Deer [Fractalized]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3756579438_59779a1658_m.jpg "Deer [Fractalized]")
Deer Population is Growing Concern - From Wheeling News Register photo credit: AndyeMcee When the deer population rises and the starvation level increases, deer will begin to eat a larger variety of plants and flowers they may not normally prefer, Miller said. He said August is the time of year deer begin to move closer to residential areas of...... -
Online Deer Registration In Kansas The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is the first state to introduce deer registration using photo documentation. This new process is convenient for Kansas hunters and helps to prevent chronic wasting disease from spreading. Hunters can now report the deer from where they were taken rather than transporting...... - Blue Fescue Makes Your Garden Area Look Great And Keeps The Deer Away Of the many ways to keep deer out of the garden, most are either costly or potentially dangerous to the deer or other animals entering the area. Using blue fescue is an organic way to deter deer from the garden. This ornamental grass makes a nice addition to the garden......
- Hosta Looks Beautiful, But It Is Hardly A Deer Resistant Plant Hosta is a very attractive plant that grows well in many soil conditions and requires little maintenance. However, those who live in areas that are prone to deer should avoid including these leafy plants in their gardens. Deer love the large succulent leaves of the hosta plant and they will......
- “Keep Off The Grass”: Deer Resistant Ornamental Grasses For The Yard Landscaping a yard can be a labor of love along with a real pain if there are deer in the area. Deer like nothing better than to take a nibble at anything that may smell good to them. This can make choosing plants and trees a bit of a hassle......
-
Make Your Mule Deer Hunts Successful Mule deer hunts are less well known than things like deer hunts and elk hunts. Mule deer seem less desirable to some people who hunt but they're a challenging animal to hunt and many people enjoy the meet as much as venison or elk. Mule deer aren't as plentiful as...... - Time To Find Some Environmental News It's difficult to change how we think. It's much easier to go on our lives the easy way, not challenging our thoughts and actions. Real awareness challenges our personal, private thoughts and asks us to look at another way of thinking. It opens our mind to new ideas that......
-
Death Valley Spring Hiking Springtime in Death Valley can be one of the best times of year to visit this astounding place. The weather will generally be mild, most of the winter storms will have passed, and you can experience the desert in bloom. Death Valley blanketed by wildflowers is something everyone living in...... -
Reincarnation – The Ancient Egyptian Nine Parts of The Soul This is the first part of a feature article titled, The Ancient Egyptian Concept of the Soul, by Caroline Seawright: “To the Ancient Egyptians, their soul, their being, were made up of many different parts. Not only was there the physical form, but there were eight immortal or semi-divine parts...... -
World battles swine flu as death toll rises Governments and health officials around the world continued to take steps Tuesday against the outbreak of swine flu that has killed scores of people in Mexico and spread to the U.S., Europe and possibly Asia. By early Tuesday, the swine flu outbreak in Mexico was suspected in 152 deaths and......
Related posts:
