Page 57 - Flathead Beacon // 10.14.15

MOUNTAIN EXPOSURE
OUTDOORS IN BRIEF
BLUETONGUE DISEASE KILLING DEER NEAR EUREKA
A disease that has been killing deer across the Pacific Northwest has turned up in the Eureka area, state wildlife officials announced.
According to Eureka area Wildlife Biologist Tim Thier, approximately 60 deer have died from the disease, while additional reports of dead deer are still trick- ling in.
Bluetongue is a virus that affects whitetail deer, mule deer, antelope and domestic sheep. Other wildlife may be affected by the disease, but to a lesser degree.
The disease is transmitted by a small biting midge with the onset of disease typically occur- ring in late summer to early fall, according to Montana Fish, Wild- life and Parks Wildlife Manager Neil Anderson.
Although this year’s whitetail population is robust, Anderson said the disease can kill up to 75
percent of local deer populations. Anderson said the deer mor- talities should end shortly after a
frost, which will kill the midges. FWP will continue monitor- ing the effects of the disease on
deer in the Eureka area, he said. Anderson urged people to report deer that appear to be sick or that die from unexplained rea- sons anywhere in the region by
calling at FWP at 752-5501.
“We are trying to document any movement of the disease out- side of the Eureka area,” Ander-
sonsaid.
The bluetongue virus does not
affect people. Meat from deer with the disease is safe to eat; however, FWP advises that people do not harvest animals that appear to be sick.
This is the first reported case in the region.
Email outdoors news to [email protected].
OUT OF BOUNDS ROB BREEDING CLOSING THE SEASON
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL Park roads will soon close for the year. In Wyoming the changing seasons are marked in part by the status of the park. In the spring and fall we can get through Yellowstone to reach Jack- son Hole or western Montana, but in the summer and winter the park can be impassable.
In winter the roads are closed. That will happen Nov. 2 this year. In the sum- mer roads are open, but that doesn’t mean you can actually drive through the park. A website recently published a photo taken by a friend that showed a typical summer park scene: A line of autos snaking off in the distance, maybe 100, all stopped on the road. A couple buffalo ambled down the open lane of traffic, and from many of the immobile autos, cameras poked out open windows filming the brutes. The photo ran with a story reporting visitation at Yellowstone had already reached an all-time annual high in 2015.
At times like these, travel through the park is barely faster than in winter when the gates are locked and the plateau is blanketed in snow.
Throngs of tourists crowd the park at the height of the tourist season, including dopes who stop in the middle of the road to snap photos of buffalo. The beasts are everywhere so it’s not as though a sight- ing is a rare occurrence. If you want to see another buffalo in Yellowstone usually all you need to do is drive another quarter mile. There will be another.
Elk are another matter. They are a little more rare — despite the herd that always hangs out near the Gar- diner entrance — and more worthy of an impromptu photo session.
Bears are in a class all their own. We saw a mess of black bears one afternoon when we cut through the park on the way back from Missoula. At one point we
nearly plowed into the back of a car that stopped right at the apex of a sharp curve when the driver spotted a young bear just feet from the road. If we hadn’t been driv- ing with Yellowstone caution I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop. I gave them a few moments for photos, then realized we were in danger of being rear ended ourselves by the next vehicle com- ing around the curve. So I did something I’ve almost never done since I left South- ern California years ago and moved to the Northern Rockies: I leaned on the horn.
They were likely urban folk unable to resist the charm of a bear so close they could have almost touched it. But right in the middle of that curve, putting every- one behind them at risk, was a little too much.
The Elk Hunter and I took a drive up to the park last weekend with designs on a last visit before Yellowstone closed for the season. We were full on tourists, even making a stop at Old Faithful where we witnessed one of the greatest gather- ings of selfie sticks in recorded natural history.
We even spied a bear on that trip, though in a safe manner. As we were driv- ing in from the east entrance and neared Yellowstone Lake we saw a gathering of telephoto lenses and rangers at a park- ing area.
We guessed it was a bear and since there was a safe place to pull off the road, stopped to have a look. It was a mama grizzly and her cub. They were barely visible in the thick deadfall from the Big Burn, but that blond fur dancing in the breeze was unmistakable.
We didn’t stay long as we had an appointment to act like a couple tourists at Old Faithful. But the cameras and the rangers were still there when we drove past five hours later on our way home.
There’s something about a bear that almost makes you forget the crowds.
Majestic Valley Arena’s 14th Annual
Vendors Wanted November 13th, 14th & 15th, 2015
Booths Going Fast! Call 755-5366 for information
Rob Breeding writes and teaches when he’s not fishing or hunting.
ScottiBelli’s
RISTORANTE ITALIANO
Now Open for Lunch!
Monday - Friday 11am - 2pm
Dinner served Monday - Saturday 5pm - 9pm
Fridays and Saturdays until 10pm
406.890.7800 • 110 MAIN STREET, Kalispell MT
OCTOBER 14, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
57
HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA
Italian
Done Right!