OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As Deer Hunt ’20 approaches recent reports of dead animals in the Northwoods have some people talking.
Late this summer dozens of deer were found dead in Oconto County. Biologists say tiny biting flies are to blame.
“When I found that doe, it was dead under these spruce,” said Mike Vande Ven, Town of Oconto Falls.
Vande Ven tells FOX 11 it started around Labor Day Weekend.
“Over the course of a couple days, ended up finding seven dead deer on my property. This obviously was very unusual, so I got the DNR involved.”
Vande Ven says the local wildlife biologist took samples and sent them to Madison.
“The tests came back positive for EHD.”
EHD, or epizootic hemorrhagic disease. DNR District Wildlife Supervisor Jeff Pritzl tells FOX 11 tiny flies, or midges, bite the deer, the infected animals run a fever, and become dehydrated. He says dead deer are often found near water.
“It can affect a fair number of deer in a concentrated area, so based on the reports that we got from landowners in that area around Oconto Falls, we were aware of an area about seven miles across where ultimately I think we documented upwards of almost 50 deer that were found. This occurrence in Oconto County does represent the furthest north event that we’re aware of in Wisconsin. So it just suggests like other things we’ve seen shifting their range further north.”
DNR biologists say the first diagnosed EHD case in the state dates back almost 20 years. Photographs show a doe found last fall in southwest Wisconsin in Richland County, and a young buck, which was discovered two months later in nearby Grant County. Experts say EHD does not affect human health, handling infected deer poses little to no risk, and it’s safe to eat the venison.
Mike Vande Ven say that’s good news, because there are plenty of deer in the area, and this herd needs to be thinned.
“My biggest concern, to tell the other hunters out in the area, the landowners, is to don’t stop harvesting the antlerless deer. In fact, we’re to the point where we’re so overpopulated, that even in one year, if you don’t harvest the antlerless deer, we’re going to have a real problem. And nature’s taking its course. EHD is one of the ways that nature will take its course.”
Biologists say there is some good news. The biting flies are done for this season, because the tiny insects typically die with the first frost.
