By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Drought conditions pose various problems all around Kansas, with most of the state suffering from some level of dryness. Most of Barton County is included in the state's moderate-drought category, and water levels drop to severe and extreme-drought conditions into Pawnee and Rush counties and west.
Cheyenne Bottoms has been hit hard by a lack of rain. Bottoms Wildlife Manager Jason Wagner said, using just current rates of flow in the Wet Walnut Creek, it would take more than a decade to refill the bottoms. That level of drought is causing many bird species to skip the Bottoms this year. The couple of inches of rain that fell last week did little to alleviate the problem.
"As dry as it is, the ponds absorb a lot of the water before they run off," Wagner said. "The ground itself soaks in almost all that water. It's going to take a real significant event for anything to happen."
Drought conditions may also have indirect effects on local deer populations. Wagner said the dry conditions around water sources are an excellent habitat for biting midge flies that carry a disease that can be deadly to deer. The flies are often called "no-see-ums" because they are about the size of gnats.
"What happens is that little midge breeds in the mud, then it emerges and bites a deer," he explained. "That deer gets infected with Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD for short. That deer then develops a bad fever. It causes the blood vessels to weaken in the deer, and it causes it to bleed internally. The deer, a lot of times, will succumb to this virus. It's not spread from deer to deer or deer to livestock. It's just spread from the fly to the deer."
Hot and dry conditions push the deer closer to the water sources where the flies breed, furthering the danger. The good news is not all infected deer die from the disease, and does that survive can pass immunity onto offspring.
"Luckily here, where we're at, is kind of on the edge of where EHD really has a strong effect," said Wagner. "You get further east in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, a lot of the northern states, EHD will cause these massive die-offs of deer. They'll almost wipe out a deer herd during conditions like this."
Once bitten, symptoms usually develop in the deer after about seven days. Death can occur quickly, between eight and 36 hours. Wagner said fevered deer may lie in the water, and the public report those instances to area wildlife officials.
"If you start seeing deer, especially ones that are alive, hanging around water, lying in the water, acting like cows do when it gets hot, it's not typical deer behavior," he said. "If you start seeing some of that, it would help if you call a Wildlife and Parks employee or office or a game warden. We can go through there and do some testing."