Sick bighorns to be removed from Yakima River Canyon
This is simply a darn shame. Wild sheep have had their problems throughout the Pacific Northwest from time to time and now sheep in the Yakima River Canyon are affected.
State and federal wildlife officials are working to stop the spread of pneumonia, which is spreading in the area. They are planning on euthanizing the sickest animals.
Fish and Wildlife biologists and others with the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services will spend several weeks identifying and removing sheep that show signs of pneumonia, such as coughing and lethargy.
They expect a need to remove a third of two wild bighorn sheep herds in the canyon. There is an estimated sheep population of 260 in the canyon. It is anticipated the illness will be contained by removal of the sick animals.
Fish and Wildlife began receiving reports of sick and dead sheep in early December. So far 18 dead sheep have been found during aerial and ground surveys. Carcasses tested at Washington State University's veterinary laboratory were found to have pneumonia.
The disease is often fatal in wild bighorn sheep, and can also affect the survival rate of lambs later born to animals that survive the disease. There is no treatment for bighorns with pneumonia and there is no preventative vaccination for the disease.
Pneumonia in wild bighorn sheep is not transmissible to humans or domestic livestock, according to Fish and Wildlife. This sounds as if there would be a lot of meat for food banks, but because the euthanized sheep could be carrying secondary infections, the meat will not be donated.
The Yakima River area is home to more than half the state's 1,500 wild bighorn sheep, with herds totaling nearly 800 animals. Other bighorn sheep herds in the area include the Quilomene herd to the northeast and the Cleman Mountain and Tieton herds to the west.
So far, no dead or sick bighorn sheep have been found outside the Umtanum and Selah Butte herds.
Past outbreaks among bighorn sheep in Washington and other parts of the western United States have been linked to contact between wild sheep and domestic sheep or goats that carry Pasteurella but are unaffected by the bacteria. However, there is no evidence that such contact occurred in the Yakima River Canyon.
Other western states, including Montana and Nevada, also are experiencing disease outbreaks in their wild bighorn sheep populations.
As we said in the beginning, this is a darn shame.
RMEF scores big bucks
The local Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet, held last Saturday, grossed around $47,000, according to Craig McCuistion, chairman.
Way to go guys. Remember, it's for the elk and other wildlife.
From Rod Hammons of R&R Guide Service in Brewster:
A release of 3,100 triploids at the net pens on Rufus Woods Lake was conducted a week ago Wednesday. These fish are running between two and eight pounds.
I tried the trophy walleye holes while steelhead fishing Feb. 4 and caught one about 13 pounds, but it was the only fish.
I will be heading to Seaton's Grove this coming week to let you know how the walleye fishing is there. It should be good, as water temperature is 40 degrees.
Contact Rod at 509-689-2849.
Great info, Rod. We also received reports of hot fishing at Rufus Woods. However there was a complaint.
The anglers said, "Traveled for two hours and then caught a two-fish limit in an hour."
He shouldn't complain much as one fish was a 12-pounder and the others were in the 5- to 8-pound range.
Still time to participate Bird enthusiasts of all kinds are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, which runs Feb. 12-15 this year. It's free and fun for the whole family.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent and in Hawaii.
Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day to participate. Or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. As the name indicates, the backyard is where most people begin, but a family could also count birds at a park for 15 minutes or longer.
So here's what you do: count the greatest number of individual birds of each species that you see together at any one time. When finished, enter the results through the bird count web page, www.birdcount.org.
Last year, participants turned in more than 94,165 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. A total of 620 bird species were counted and the total number of birds counted was 11,558,638.
Hey folks, this is family fun at its best.
Snow owl report
Grant County Fair Manager Vern Cummings reports a snow owl has been sitting at the north end of the rodeo bleachers for three days as of yesterday, Thursday. Visitors are welcome to view the critter and take a photos, but stop by the fair office first, for directions and suggestions how not to disturb the bird.