EHD Confirmed in Stearns County

There have been reports of 70+ deer dead, from what was an unknown cause. They have now confirmed it is EHD from midges (insects) that hatched there for the first time. Many people believe it was due to the Mississippi Draw Down Project for Little Rock Lake draining the swamp/low lands by St. Stephen and creating the perfect breeding grounds for the midges, which typically only breed on river banks during droughts. I used to hunt this area (just west of the Rice bridge/Rice, MN), and it’s a terrible deal for a lot outdoorsmen that are heavily invested in their property and the area deer herd.

http://www.wjon.com/update-midge-born-virus-cause-of-dead-deer-in-stearns-co/

you say 70 plus deer the article says a couple. Where did the count of 70 plus come from? I am just asking, not accusing.

EHD sucks. Seems like a big outbreak in some part of the state every 4-5 years. Usually happens in a drought year though. Drawing the water down could definitely be the culprit.

This is within walking distance of my house, literally 5 minutes where the majority were found.
The different reports showed multiple ranges of dead deer. Initial report last week (before they knew the cause) was around 2 dozen. Locals say the number is higher than that. One thing I read today had multiple tallies and in total was approaching the 70 number because they were found in different locales.
When I first hear it, the first thing I said was the “drawdown”.

sticker wrote:

you say 70 plus deer the article says a couple. Where did the count of 70 plus come from? I am just asking, not accusing.

There is a Facebook post going around that has been compiling the information, and I have many friends in the area who confirmed it is over 70+ found with unknown amounts more dying deep in the woods and swamps never found. If you are unfamiliar with the area, there is a huge area of kind of connected swamps that tie into the Mississippi and that is where they are finding these deer. The person who made the original post has claimed over 20 dead found just on his land.

Also, the original story mentioned about 2 dozen.

http://www.wjon.com/dnr-testing-dead-deer-found-in-stearns-county/

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>sticker wrote:</div>
you say 70 plus deer the article says a couple. Where did the count of 70 plus come from? I am just asking, not accusing.

There is a Facebook post going around that has been compiling the information, and I have many friends in the area who confirmed it is over 70+ found with unknown amounts more dying deep in the woods and swamps never found. If you are unfamiliar with the area, there is a huge area of kind of connected swamps that tie into the Mississippi and that is where they are finding these deer. The person who made the original post has claimed over 20 dead found just on his land.

Ok, thanks for clarifying. That really sucks bad

Yeah, its really bad and its only going to get worse since this will only stop once the midges all die off and that wont happen until a hard freeze.
Ground zero for this is about a half mile from my house.
Its kind of hard to believe how this could happen and if it was caused by the drawdown of the river. I mean, the area in question is very flat land and constantly has fluctuating water conditions. The river doesnt feed this area, rather the other way around.
My buddy’s house backs right up to where most of the dead deer have been found, but so far he hasnt seen any on his property.
On the bright side I had 2 deer bolt through the field behind my house last night, so there are at least 2 still alive.

Yeah I doubt they will be able to prove it was the draw down, but sure is a lot of “coincidence’s”. From what I understand EHD is VERY uncommon in MN (from what I read this is the first EHD outbreak in MN, but it is common in neighboring states), and is typically associated with drought years. Since this has been a very wet year, that’s pretty strong circumstantial evidence imo. It definitely sucks, but that area has a very strong deer herd, so recovery shouldn’t take long.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlifedisease/ehd.html

there was an article aboutthis in the st cloud times today…………..no mention of the draw down as a possible reason why???????????????????

glenn57 wrote:

there was an article aboutthis in the st cloud times today…………..no mention of the draw down as a possible reason why???????????????????

Would you expect the DNR to admit something like that? Even if they did think it was a potential reason they would never say that considering it was the result of a program they spent a considerable amount of time getting approved to hopefully clean up Little Rock Lake.
It would be nearly impossible to prove, but biting midge nymphs feed/grow in mud/sand. With the drawdown there is a lot more mud/sand exposed so they were likely able to mature and hatch is larger numbers. Residents along the river have seen clouds of bugs coming from the river and traveling toward the area of this EHD outbreak in late August. Now this happens, so you can draw connections, but not necessarily PROVE anything, but it sure seems suspect.

BigWerm wrote:

Yeah From what I understand EHD is VERY uncommon in MN (from what I read this is the first EHD outbreak in MN, but it is common in neighboring states),

This is from the Star trib article. I can’t find any other case of it in wild deer though.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health confirmed EHD in two captive deer in Houston County on Sept. 5. Those cases appear unrelated to the Stearns County case. The disease first appeared in Minnesota captive deer in October 2018, when BAH confirmed it in six deer on a Goodhue County farm

Here is an article in our local paper. I was told by a friend that it will affect his bow and other earlier seasons hunting. His property is within about 5 miles of mine on the same river. I should be ok as I hunt 1st season shotgun and this year that falls on the 7th of Dec. I think we will have several frosts by then.

Number of deer affected by deadly virus could spike, DNR says
Tyler J. Davis, Des Moines Register, Published 5:01 p.m. CT Aug. 27, 2019

“Hundreds of deer in Iowa have died after contracting a debilitating virus in the south-central section of the state.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is reporting an outbreak of Epizootic hemorrhagic disease in deer concentrated near Warren County. EHD is spread by female midges that feed on the dead animals, according to a DNR news release.

More than 400 deer in 2018 have died from the virus, and that number is likely to increase as bow hunting season begins. EHD kills animals each year, but not usually at this rate, the DNR says.

The sickness causes a fever in the affected deer and causes the cell membranes in its heart, lungs and diaphragm to weaken and burst.

“Infected deer are attracted to water to combat the fever and dehydration due to the hemorrhaging and usually die within a few days,” the release reads. “In dry years, it can be worse as deer are more concentrated around water, and since the disease is spread by a biting midge, more deer can become infected.”

EHD remains active, according to the release, until rain disperses the deer, wind disperses the midges or frost kills the midges. The virus should not be confused or associated with chronic wasting disease, a deadly ailment found in Iowa deer earlier in 2019.”

Update from this story because it is getting quite heated, but you are not hearing much about it in the media.
Locals are reporting in excess of 100 deer dead now because of this.
I am not too sure I believe that number because there area affected is a pretty small area and that is an unreal number of deer to think they were that dense. Yes, there are a lot of deer around here, but that would be a VERY high number.

I think there may be a bit of dramatization by the locals who feel wronged here or that the DNR made some mistake, etc.
The DNR immediately requested people to watch, document and identify where they are finding the deer, but I have yet to see an official tally with a map of sorts with pushpins of each location. When the folks were pushed for more proof supporting the numbers they were claiming they clammed up. Not calling them liars, but we all know how rumors spread especially when it comes to something like this.

There was a video posted of a dying deer, laying on the ground just flailing its legs. That was hard to watch. I saw another video of a deer, just sitting in the middle of the road while the person was parked next to it, then it slowly stumbled off.

Its a sad deal. You hate to see something like this happen, but I think emotion is getting the best of some people making it more epidemic than it may be. We will see I guess. I hope its nowhere near the numbers claimed because that will take some time to recover from that.
I drive around this area a lot since its only a half mile from my house. I am still seeing live deer, but havent seen a dead one myself, but I havent ventured into the woods either.

Thanks for the update!! There are a lot of us that are not necessarily directly affected watching this and it’s great to get intel.