mangy forked horn

[jdb]

I saw the mangiest forked horn ive ever seen last nite in the yakima canyon. nice deep fork on the right side, broke off on the left, big patches of hair missin and he had a greasy look to him. he did have a small eye guard so he may have been legal but I thought as I looked at him that if I shot him Id be scarred to eat him. JB

[BC CHASER]

He was probably hit by a car.  Was he limping or anything?

[klickriverchromer]

Jdb, i saw that sucker on my way home last week.  he was feeding in the guys yrd there just before you enter the canyon.  yuck!

[alpine]

maybe lyce(spelling?) i believe theres been a problem out that way the last few years moved over from the west side

[andrew_12gauge]

any rams? saw 4 decent bucks there in the canyon last week they didnt appear to have any of the lice goin on though

[cabin308]

Could be that hair loss disease making that one look so bad.  I thought I read it was an affliction of blacktails but mulies are closely related so hopefully it's not spreading??   

[DOUBLELUNG]

Could be that hair loss disease making that one look so bad.  I thought I read it was an affliction of blacktails but mulies are closely related so hopefully it's not spreading??  

Sadly, they are not the same.  BTD are afflicted by a louse native to sika deer (Asian); mule deer on the east Cascades are getting impacted by ANOTHER louse native to fallow deer (European).  Started in Yakima Co several years ago, moved north into Kittitas Co. a few years ago - appears to have arrived in Chelan Co. this spring.

[MountainWalk]

Has WA ever had a recent case of blue tongue?

[MountainWalk]

I know over on the Charlie Russel in eastern MT, they were having issues with it.

[Michelle_Nelson]

I was begining to wonder if Blue Tongue was in WA.  I know when I was working at the deer processor in Georgia we use to get a couple deer brought in a year with it.  Use to just toss them in the dumpster.  

[Buschingc]

A couple of years ago, I was scouting in Grand Coulee. I drove up on a small doe. She walked right up to my truck, and then started to spin around (looked like like a dog trying to eat its tail) Then she would fall to the ground. This went on for about 30 mins. I then decided that the deer must be suffering so I got out with a bat to hit it on the head. I didn't want to shot it and get in trouble (like there was really any difference) . The deer jump up and ran off like normal for aout 30 yards and started spining around again. The legs were moving all weird . Its hard to explain what it really looked like. I then called a fish and wildlife officer. He told me to shoot her and take her body to a biologist there in Grand Coulee. So thats what I did... I tell you what, trying to shoot a spining deer is pretty hard to do. I missed my first shot and then hit her in the neck on the second. I didnt want her to suffer anymore then she already was. I Then took her to the biologist. The biologist cut off her head, and then cut out the brain stem. About a month later I found out she had blue tongue..... I was worried it was CWD.. By the way he said that Mule Deer usually dont get blue tongue, and that mostly whitetails get it from the water they drink.. Just thought you guys should know.

[DOUBLELUNG]

By the way he said that Mule Deer usually dont get blue tongue, and that mostly whitetails get it from the water they drink.. Just thought you guys should know.

Kudos for taking the time and trouble to do the right thing for our game herds. 

Blue tongue is one of a class of diseases known as hemorrhagic disease (the blue of the tongue, mucosal membranes, etc. is caused by capillaries bursting in the chronic forms).  There are at least 36 strains, and whitetails are suceptible to most if not all.  The gnat that is the carrier breeds in warm, fecally contaminated stagnant water - think late summer/early fall around scarce waterholes in riparian areas.

Mule deer are more resistant, population die-offs are much less common, although one strain does cause die-offs in mule deer and pronghorn too. 

[ThePascoKid]

the WT had blue tongue in the Palouse around Pullman pretty bad in the late 90's