Attn Mtmiller: dead elk with huge swollen tongue

[twodot]

The neighbor found a dead cow along the bank of the river yesterday. The boys and I went to check it out and found a very fresh cow that had wallowed out a large area of willows and had died with her head right at the water's edge. (see photo's)
None of this was considered strange except for her tongue was swollen about the size of a 2 liter soda bottle.
I was wondering if that was an indicator of some nasty thing like blue tounge, or was just a result of expiring with her head lower than the rest of her body.
If you (or anyone else here) think that this needs checked out by a biologist let me know while she is still fresh. I would have guessed that she died yesterday before noon.
She is along the bank of the Musselshell about 4 miles crowfly south of the CMR.
Hopefully it's nothing. twodot

 

[Treemutt]

I would have a biologist check it out just to be safe.It's always better to be safe than sorry

 

[Layin_It_Down]

I can't remember the biologist's name, but if you call the Billings FWP office, they'll give you the number to the local biologist here in Roundup. I'm sure he'd be interested in checking it out. I hope you're right though, hopefully it's nothing.

 

[sweetnectar]

I don't think elk can get blue tongue...I thought it only got whitetails and speed goats. There is a type of mushroom that when cattle eat it they get a high fever and go to water and die. Usually they die in the water...the fever is so high they try to get cooled off. If I remember right the mushroom is a falic mushroom, white in color, grows maybe 3 to 4 inches tall, and 1 to 2 inches in diameter. (looks like the male organ, hence the name falic mushroom) Any mushrooms in that area?

I would suspect something it ate if not the mushrooms.

On a side note: layingitdown-I bought one of your videos the other day. It was in a gas station in Roundup. You are one lucky dude with a wife that loves to hunt as much as yours. Anyway thanks for the entertainment.

 

[mtmiller]

Hell, I am just a lowly BLM biologist. I would say looking at the head, it certainly could be EHD. Swollen head and protruding tongue. I have never seen it in elk, but apparently it does occur. I would chalk it up to EHD, but not worry to much about it. From the literature, it doesn't impact elk numbers like it does with deer. Even if it did, not much to do about it other than document.

If you want to talk to the local biologist (Round up?) I think Jay Newell is still there.

 

[twodot]

Thanks everyone. I had to leave for three days right after we found it so couldn't follow up on anything anyway. Hey Miller, if we notice any more of this kind of thing, we will contact J Newell. We are gonna float the river here in a day or two and if there are more like this one in the area they will probably show up.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

We had Blue Tongue go through our Deer Heard in NW Louisiana one year. Gnats or something like them feed off Cattle and infect the deer. It took a couple of years to work itself out. Nasty stuff. Liberals can get it also from Presidential Bullchit. John

 

[Layin_It_Down]

On a side note: layingitdown-I bought one of your videos the other day. It was in a gas station in Roundup. You are one lucky dude with a wife that loves to hunt as much as yours. Anyway thanks for the entertainment.

Thanks "sweetnectar" for the support. I'm glad you liked the video. I've had a lot of folks ask if we're gonna do one again this year. We'll keep on filming, but for right now, I need to sell enough to at least pay for the last one. So once again; Thank you very much for your support.

 

[duckhead59]

just from the pics it does look alot like bluetongue. I'd at least report it and let biologists take a look and be aware. I dont know about elk but with wt it can be pretty devastating on the herd short term...usually during hot and dry summers. we had it 2 times in about a 5 yr period...wow...it knocked the #'s way down...farmers were finding dead deer around ponds etc...and back here it seemed to affect older/mature deer the worst.

 

[WillyP]

This is about the time we get EHD deaths here in OH. Any sign that she bled out through the nose ?