Deer hunting interest is high with the Maryland statewide bow-hunting opener Saturday. But hunters are voicing concerns about a Pennsylvania deer disease that is kissing-cousin close to our western counties.
The concerns are over epizootic hemorrhagic disease that has killed several hundred deer in southwestern Pennsylvania. Not to worry, says Department of Natural Resources deer project leader Doug Hotton.
EHD is not contagious to humans, and your dog or cat can?t get it after you arrive home from a successful hunt. Maryland has EHD, but it is unlike chronic-wasting disease, which we don’t have and don’t want.
“It’s not a problem, it’s a reality,” said Hotton, when asked about the effect such news might have on Maryland hunters. It should not have any effect at all. No problem.
While several hundred dead Pennsylvania deer in four southwestern counties and 21 townships are a concern, it has not segued into Western Maryland. The deer in Pennsylvania are positive for EHD, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission testing.
Hotton noted that the DNR is checking and testing deer from Worcester and Talbot counties on the Eastern Shore and Calvert County on the western side of the Bay. The Worcester County deer proved positive for EHD. There are no other results yet.
The decades-old disease is a virus infecting deer through biting midges. “It is a disease that we get from time to time in deer populations,” Hotton said. “It can pop up anywhere. This year it’s decided to be pretty intensive throughout the southeast.”
As with any game kill, it is best to not eat deer that look or act sick. That could affect EHD deer, since the symptoms of drooling, weakness and loss of fear of humans are not unlike those associated with chronic-wasting disease. In both cases deer die, with EHD usually killing deer in five to 10 days.
When harvesting deer that appear sick, the obvious solution is to play it safe and not eat them. Instead, contact the DNR should they want tissue samples. A list of regional Wildlife & Heritage offices/phone numbers is on Page 12 of the 2007-2008 Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping.
The good news is, with the first frost and resulting die-off of biting midges, the disease will lessen. That could come as early as the firearms season opener on Nov. 24. But it might not occur until later.
“We don’t know when we will get frost,” said Hotton. “Sometimes we don’t get frost until mid-December.” However, affected and infected local herds will rebound and rapidly repopulate any decimated areas.
So we don’t know if we?ll be out of the woods on this problem by the firearms season. That’s figuratively, of course. Actually, we’ll be in the woods looking for deer, just as some of us will be tomorrow.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting and the outdoors. He can be reached at [email protected].
