Blue Tongue Disease in Southwest PA?

Deer902 · 10-30-2002, 11:41 AM

I talked to a friend of mine who hunts in Greene County during the rifle season. He was telling me that he didn't know if he was going to hunt there this year because of this Blue Tongue disease. Supposedly some small white insects were blown up here from the south during the hurricane. They infect the deer and it kills them within 48 hours. He also said that the insect would be wiped out with the first frost of the year, which could be this weekend. Another buddies dad works in the mine down there and said there is dead deer all over the place. This is the first he or I heard about this. Did anyone else hear about this?

DougMD · 10-30-2002, 01:37 PM

Let me tell you about Blue Tongue. The scientific term is something like epizoologic hemmhoragic disease. Some parts of some counties in Maryland, namely PG County and Charles County among them, got hit with it the year before last, and the one before that. Anyway, between the two years, it killed off about 80% of the deer herd or more. Where a buddy of mine would see 15 deer in fields at night before blue tongue, he'd see 1 to 3. Deer seemed to die in big numbers between about August through September or so. In fact, he is just now seeing the deer herd build back to decent numbers. I can tell you that if it is widespread in your area, hunting will be poor. Even in his best areas, where he used to see 15 to 25 deer a day in his treestand during an all day vigil in the prerut chasing period, he saw few, if any. Most places, he wasn't even seeing deer at all.

mauser06 · 10-30-2002, 01:47 PM

i live in sw PA and never heard of it..and was in the woods in diffrent parts of the co and never seen a deer dead or alive!!

springgobbler · 10-30-2002, 02:57 PM

I read of a case of this (homhoragic diesease) in Monongalia Co., WV, which borders PA just south of Pittsburgh. I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but the article mentioned it was near a mine also.

It was the first I had heard of it...

cableguy119 · 10-30-2002, 03:21 PM

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC...2/nr092-02.htm
Press release on the 70 Dead Deer

Signs point to EHD as DougMd mentioned

70 white-tailed deer dead
News release by PA Game Commission about deer deaths in Gilmore, Franklin and Richhill townships, Greene County and West Finley Township, Washington County.

Shawn · 10-31-2002, 09:59 AM

That number is way conservative. By the time people find them there are a lot that have already died. It hits in NW WV about every three years, going back to the mid to late 80's. It usually wipes out anywhere from 1/3 on a light year to 2/3 in a bad year. By the hundreds.

Of course the WVDNR is only lately admitting to it's existence.