Direct from the world headquarters of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny
DOOMS DAY
It’s
happened again! A hound returns with those nasty quills. Judging from the entry
points she must have picked up the quills as she raced through the briars and
brambles during this early morning training run. This is my forensic opinion
and I’m sticking to it. I never suspected anything out of the ordinary. It was
a routine rabbit chase if there is such a thing. Music came right to me as soon
as the rabbit holed.
I know these nasty things hurt. I’m talking about porcupine quills. The young female beagle quietly sat there and let me pull them out. The quills undoubtedly hurt much worse coming out than they did going in. She squealed a time or two but she was exceedingly brave. Some people promote cutting the quill to "let the air out". This doesn’t work and slows down the process. The objective here is to remove the quills and get back to hunting. The beagle won’t remember once you get them out, but we sort a hope they do, for next time. Oh, I’ve read all the advice on how and why the veterinarian should pull them out under sedation to avoid infection and how they can work their way in if broken off.
Porcupine
quills come equipped with one-way barb on the end at no extra charge. It’s the
barb that inflicts the pain coming out. Just ask me how I know. I’ve personally
felt the barb. After pulling hundreds of quills in the woods I’ve invariably
ended up with a few stuck in me.
Those nasty
porcupine quills.
I’ve
hated porcupines for a long time because I’ve pulled thousands of quills from countless
hounds. I’ve forever considered porcupines my hound’s chief hazard in the woods;
however, I’ve just learned of a new menace, one I may grow to hate a thousand
times more.
I thought I’d seen and heard just about everything, especially in 2020. That is until I opened my bi-weekly sporting newspaper and read the following headline, “Deadly virus is threatening Pennsylvania’s rabbits”. I reported a blurb about a rabbit virus going around out west in an earlier THE RABBIT HUNTER issue, but, the words, “Pennsylvania’s rabbits” made it hit home, my home, my woods, my rabbits. The more I read the sicker I feel. This new virus, right now, is making me nauseous and I can’t be infected, the experts claim, but it is affecting me. Are we facing a catastrophic ecological disaster? West Nile Virus eliminated an immense share of ruffed grouse in Pennsylvania and across the continent. Now I know how grouse hunters feel.
“Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus2” or RHDV2
is what this newest menace is called and has reportedly killed thousands of
wild rabbits in several southwestern states in the past few months. This virus is not related to coronavirus; it is a calicivirus, a different viral family. A Pennsylvania
Game Commission (PGC) official called RHDV2, “a nasty bug, and extremely
contagious”. This same official went on to say, “the majority of rabbits who
contract the disease die.”
“The
outlook right now is so unbelievably bleak,” says Hayley Lanier, a mammologist
at the University of Oklahoma. “We’re simply left to watch the wave spread out
and worry about imperiled species in its path.”
RHDV2 causes
rapid death in rabbits with a death rate reported at 70 to 90 or even 100
percent. The virus can live in the environment for years and is strong enough
to survive extreme cold and freezes according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The only signs of the disease are sudden death and possibly
blood-stained noses caused by internal bleeding the experts point out.
Now,
I’m really in a panic. I cannot comprehend what life would be like after a 100
percent wild rabbit and snowshoe hare kill. What about my predator competitors?
What will happen to our ecosystems? After the virus hammered wild populations
in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), killing 60% to 70%, two
predators that depend on rabbits also declined: the Spanish imperial eagle by
45% and the Iberian lynx by 65%. It was
at this point I decided to find out more about RHVD and share the facts with
you.
Why
is this important?
Many
rabbit hunters hunt out of state.
Many
clubs run domestic rabbits in their training pens.
RHVD2 is extremely
contagious and is transmitted between rabbits by direct contact with live or
dead rabbits, through feces, body fluids, carcasses, contaminated food and water. Flies, fleas, and mosquitoes can carry
the virus between domestic and wild rabbits. Surviving rabbits may be contagious
for up to 2 months. The virus can live in flies for as
much as nine days, in carcasses for up to three months and for weeks in dried
excretions and/or secretions. Predators
and scavengers also spread the virus by casting it in their feces. The virus
can persist in infected meat for months and for prolonged periods in
decomposing carcasses. Some authorities claim importation of rabbit meat may be a
major contributor in the spread of the virus to new geographic regions. Contaminated clothing, food, cages,
bedding, feeders, and water also spread the virus. According to the agriculture
department RHDV poses no risk to human health, however, you can see just how
contagious this virus is.
RHDV1 was first reported in 1984 in the People's Republic of China in rabbits obtained from Europe. Since then, RHDV1 has spread to over 40 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, and is endemic in most parts of the world. A few isolated outbreaks of RHDV1 have occurred in the United States and Mexico, but they remained local and were eliminated. Pennsylvania had an “incidence” of RHDV1 in domesticated rabbits back in 2018 in Jefferson County.
HELP BUILD AWARNESS AND PREVENT ENTRY OF THIS DEADLY
DISEASE!
It
seems there are several strains or types of this deadly disease and the newest
type is RHDV2. RHDV2 was detected in France 10 years ago. It has been reported
either type (RHDV1 and RHDV2) can move between domesticated and wild rabbits,
however, conflicting statements from state to state are confusing.
In 2020, outbreaks of RHDV2 in domestic rabbits, as well as cottontail rabbits and hares, have been reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Nevada, California and Utah. Affected wildlife includes mountain cottontail rabbits, desert cottontail rabbits, antelope jackrabbits and black-tailed jackrabbits. The sources of these outbreaks are unknown.
On April 1st, 2020 Arizona Game and Fish received 2 separate
reports from wildlife managers in the Douglas area of dying cottontails and
jackrabbits. On April 8th, the laboratory confirmed that these animals had died
from RHDV2. Mortalities in wild populations were
only reported in southern and eastern New Mexico. In May 2020 Science
Magazine reported, “the deadly virus is spreading quickly among wild
rabbits in southwestern North America threatening populations and possibly
endangered species. Last week the virus reached Southern California.”
“Hunters in infected areas should
wear gloves when handling harvested rabbits and wash their hands well
afterward. Meat from healthy rabbits harvested by hunters is safe to consume
when cooked thoroughly,” officials said.
PLEASE HELP PREVENT
SPREAD OF RHDV2.
“Hunters will play a
critical role in keeping the disease out of Pennsylvania,” said Emily Boyd,
PGC’s small-game mammal biologist. “It isn’t known how many Pennsylvania
hunters hunt cottontails in the infected area but hunters returning home should
take precautions.”.
Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny’s in-house biologist,
Mary Hosmer, made the following comment, “Viruses are hard to contain. The most
important thing is for hunters to not transport animals from one part of the
country to the other, unless fully dressed and refrigerated, or frozen.
The Mississippi River will be a barrier, but only for a while, and then
the virus will eventually find its way to the east.”
EDUCATE OTHERS ABOUT
THIS SERIOUS SITUATION!
All hunters should be concerned
as to what will happen to Pennsylvania’s limited snowshoe hare and critical
Appalachian cottontail populations if RHDV2 takes hold in our region not to
mention eastern cottontail rabbits. The spread of RHDV2 could possibly destroy
these species for generations to come. If all rabbits and hares are gone it
would upset the balance in the ecosystem. Losing them would have a catastrophic
impact to say the least. If RHDV2 should invade our wild rabbit and hare populations,
we will never need to worry about climate change again.
Here are a few things hunters
should do to help stop the spread of RHDV: if you find more than one dead
rabbit in a location, do not come into contact, call your local PGC office or
your state’s officials. If you hunt out-of-state do not transport flies in your
vehicle, launder clothing, clean and disinfect boot treads, knives and other
gear. Wear gloves and bury rabbit carcasses before leaving out-of-state hunting
areas. Do not allow your hunting hounds to feed on found carcasses. RHDV2 is
said not to be a risk to dogs, however, a number of other pathogens and
parasites from carcasses can affect hounds.
If your club buys tame
rabbits, buy only from reputable breeders. Do not introduce new rabbits from unknown or untrusted sources. Do
not add rabbits to your training pens from animal shelters or other types of
rescue operations. Do not release domestic rabbits into the wild. Do not allow domestic
or feral rabbits to have contact with your wild rabbits or gain entry to the training
facility. Do not allow visitors in rabbitries or let them handle pet rabbits
without protective clothing (including coveralls, shoe covers, hair covering,
and gloves). Educate others about this serious situation.
“Like any other ‘invasive’ that arrives here,
there will be ecological ramifications,” said Mary Hosmer. “For example, who
knew the damage being done to small game in the north woods of PA when the deer
ate all the understory and kept the understory bare for decades…. small game
suffered because of lack of cover and food. Ground-nesting birds suffered
increased predation and shrub-nesting birds were forced into less favorable
habitats, which leads to poorer nest success and increased predation. My guess
is that we would suffer a similar effect here with the loss of rabbits and
hares in the north woods. Those two preys are key foods for predators. Hawks
and owls will have to rely more on small rodents, snakes, etc. Coyotes and fox
will shift their food supply to birds, particularly ground-nesting birds, and
likely increased predation on fawns.”
Thanks for reading and please, please pass the word along by informing club members and other hunters, even big game hunters traveling to the west. I can think of no greater threat to our sport.
Once the barn door is open and the virus takes hold in the wild population, it will be nearly impossible to close the door again.
