Foaming Deer with Blue Tongues? EHD/BTV Outbreak Hits SE Montana

If you’re out and about along the Yellowstone River corridor this fall, you might notice fewer white-tailed deer bounding across the road. Or, worse, notice some looking like they’ve been possessed by a low-budget zombie virus.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks says they’re getting more reports of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and blue tongue virus (BTV) in whitetails and antelope in Region 7, stretching across southeast Montana.

Read More: Anger? Understatement. A Kid Drove Across My Property To Hunt.

The diseases are spread by tiny insects.

Neither disease is new, but both sound like something cooked up in a Stephen King novel. The culprits are tiny biting flies called midges (aka “no-see-ums”), which you’ve probably had the joy of experiencing during a late-summer fishing or camping trip.

When the midges bite deer, the deer can go from completely normal to foaming at the mouth, stumbling around with a swollen head and a tongue turning a shade of blue, typically within hours.

FWP says death usually comes fast, often in less than two days. They add that animals with EHD or BTV can appear weak, lethargic, and disoriented

It doesn't affect humans, but you probably shouldn't eat the meat.

Before you panic, the agency reassures us that EHD and BTV don’t spread between deer, and there’s no known risk to humans. Still, if you shoot a buck that looks like it just chugged a bottle of Tide, maybe don’t toss the backstraps on the grill.

Hunters in southeast Montana should expect lower deer and antelope numbers this fall, thanks to the outbreak. If you happen upon one of these sad, foamy-mouthed critters, or a fresh carcass, FWP asks you to report it to wildlife manager Brett Dorak at (406) 234-0921 or brett.dorak@mt.gov

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Here's the good news for deer and antelope... a hard frost usually ends the outbreak. And at this time of year, hard frost on the Yellowstone River valley could happen any day now.