Public asked to report dead sage grouse during West Nile virus season

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking everyone, especially landowners, to report dead sage grouse to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department so the birds can be tested for West Nile virus. 

According to the Game and Fish, West Nile virus is spread by certain mosquitoes, and research has shown sage grouse have a low resistance to West Nile virus, which can be and is usually fatal to the birds. Evidence of the disease has been reported in past years in northeast Wyoming and in surrounding states, including a sage grouse in North Dakota.

In a media release, the Game and Fish stated, while there are no signs of an outbreak, Game and Fish asks the public annually for reports to help in the management of the state’s sage grouse populations.

While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, Public Information Specialist Christina Schmidt told listeners that while the disease infecting rabbits (rabbit hemorrhagic disease) is something new to the Cowboy State, Game and Fish have been asking the public to report sage grouse carcasses for a while.  

Testing dead birds helps Game and Fish monitor the scope and impact of the disease across the state. 

In a Wyoming Game and Fish media release, Leslie Schreiber, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s sage grouse/sagebrush biologist emphasized the need to report dead birds to local Game and Fish personnel quickly so the birds don’t deteriorate to the point they can no longer be tested.

For individuals willing to collect carcasses they find, the chance of getting the virus from handling a dead bird is remote; but, picking up the birds with an inverted plastic sack while wearing gloves is recommended. The bagged carcass should then be placed into another plastic bag, preferably a trash bag, tied, and taken to a Game and Fish Regional Office. If it can’t be delivered quickly to Game and Fish, the bird should be frozen.

In the Sheridan Region, reports of dead sage grouse locations can be made to the Sheridan Game and Fish Field Office at (307) 672-7418.