Something I learned about EHD….

[Pops]

A friend and whitetail expert told me that buzzards will not consume a deer that’s died from EHD. There may be some buzzard activity shortly after a deer dies, but they will not stick around for long.
I saw a deer in September at 5 pm and other than his having saliva dripping from his mouth, he appeared healthy. 46 hours later, he was lying dead in a ditch, and there were many buzzards near him and in the trees. The next day there were no buzzards in sight. The only noticeable damage to him was around his rear and I guessed it was done by possums or some varmint. I had never heard this discussed before and thought I’d mention it.
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[LoessHillsArcher]

I've noticed the only thing to eat them is maggots. They're normally very gross, not touched by any varmint.

 

[Bucksnbears]

My take is..., I doubt that's the case.
I've seen many circumstances where turkey vultures need (help) opening up the carcass, (coyotes/ car kill and splattered ) before they can get in.
Turkey vultures don't kill, they rely on dead stuff. They need what they can find.
Again, my personal observations.

 

[Sligh1]

Interesting!!! Hmmmmm
Anecdotal…. I had one in pond last year in mid September. 24-48 hours dead. Just bugged me seeing it like that so I pulled it on shore. That deer sat there for months & decomposed. Not a coyote, crow or vulture touched it. Weirdest thing.

 

[seven twenty]

I’d heard the same but had an incident last year that made me question it. i was getting some pics in July & august of a good buck but he didn’t look real healthy. Ribs and vertebrae were pretty noticeable. Last pics were around the 1st wk of Sep. Found him dead on the pheasant opener. He’d obviously been chewed on which is why I question the “critters won’t eat a diseased carcass” idea. I don’t think he’d been dead for 7 weeks but I’m no expert either.

 

[northcedar]

I think they'll eat diseased carcasses, just not ehd diseased carcass very much. Must be some kind of foul for those scavengers not to stomach them.

 

[JNRBRONC]

I’m in the limited carrion eater pool. Some critters will dine, others opt out.


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[Spysar]

Seen dozens of ehd deer in Nebraska. Nothing seemed to ever want to touch them...

 

[sep0667]

Ive noticed the same, ehd kills dont seem to get scavenged on much