Moorcroft Leader - The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming

Pine Haven's deer population is showing signs of illness this winter with the discovery of a yearling that had lain down and could no longer rise due to as as-yet unconfirmed malady. This forced Game Warden Mitchell Kern to put the animal out of its misery.

A young buck in the same circumstances was later found by Public Works Director Sunny Schell.

In a recent report given to council, Schell said, "[Kern] said to keep an eye out for dead deer around town for the next couple of months."

With that said, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department focused on all six hunting areas in Crook County this year to monitor the possible rise of Chronic Wasting Disease in the county.

According to Schell, the warden is "in contact with their biologists [at the Wyoming Wildlife Health Laboratories]."

She told the council that, if any other deer are found to be sick, the biologists will join the warden and herself, "to do their tests and see if Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is here in town."

Deer may display no signs of the lethal illness at first but, as the disease advances, the animal may present with droopy ears, a lack of energy, a lack of gloss to the coat, lethargy and emaciation toward the final stage of sickness.

However, the diarrhea and lethargy could also simply be the result of people feeding the animals with inappropriate food. Schell admonished, "If they get things they're not used to, it will give them diarrhea and could kill them, too."

If residents observe an obviously unwell deer, contact the local office of Wyoming Game and Fish at (307) 756-3357.