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tommy750 Posts: 1049
1/14/2021
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Just an FYI about something you may have already heard about in the news. Was out hiking the past two weekends in the Dos Cabezas and Piedras Grandes area and encountered three deceased rabbits which is way more than I've ever seen just walking around before. Visited the Cal Fish and Wildlife site and noted they recommend reporting multiple rabbit deaths to aid in surveillance of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease. So I did right here: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Laboratories/Wildlife-Investigations/Monitoring#55671861-rabbit-hemorrhagic-disease Got a nice call from Sacramento this afternoon from Kelsey, a cheery Fish and Wildlife rep interested in the find. Not sure what happens next but would suggest all of you desert hikers file similar reports if you encounter rabbit mortality since Kelsey seems to indicate the responsible virus is a bad actor and currently present in San Diego County.
 IMG_5683 by tomteske, on Flickr
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tekewin Posts: 368
1/17/2021
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Thanks for the info. I've never heard of this. I'll keep a look out. Sounds like Rabbit ebola.
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/18/2021
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Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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rockhopper Posts: 668
1/18/2021
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Hope this "bad actor virus" leaves the desert soon.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
1/18/2021
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ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
Ziphius, did you mean no species barrier or less fresh meat?
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Rocko1 Posts: 597
1/19/2021
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ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
RHD isn't zoonotic and only affects rabbits.
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/19/2021
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tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
Ziphius, did you mean no species barrier or less fresh meat?
Tommy, yes, I meant that rabbits are an extremely-important dietary item to those carnivores.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
1/19/2021
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Rocko1 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
RHD isn't zoonotic and only affects rabbits.
Thank you for the clarification, Rocko1.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
1/19/2021
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ziphius wrote:
tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
Ziphius, did you mean no species barrier or less fresh meat?
Tommy, yes, I meant that rabbits are an extremely-important dietary item to those carnivores.
Thanks, Ziphius. Looking around the Fish and Wildlife site, just noted human carnivores have a year round jack rabbit open season as well.
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ziphius Posts: 911
1/20/2021
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Yes, let us not forget the human carnivores!
tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
tommy750 wrote:
ziphius wrote:
Also bad news if you're a red-tailed hawk, bobcat, coyote....
Ziphius, did you mean no species barrier or less fresh meat?
Tommy, yes, I meant that rabbits are an extremely-important dietary item to those carnivores.
Thanks, Ziphius. Looking around the Fish and Wildlife site, just noted human carnivores have a year round jack rabbit open season as well.
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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DesertWRX Posts: 135
2/20/2021
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Found 4 dead cottontails on our property recently. Hopefully it is the virus and not a neighbor poisoning them.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
2/21/2021
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DesertWRX wrote:
Found 4 dead cottontails on our property recently. Hopefully it is the virus and not a neighbor poisoning them.
Did you report them to Fish and Wildlife? The link is above if you want to.
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tommy750 Posts: 1049
3/1/2021
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Just got back from a three day BP trip with Daren through Inner Pasture and Potrero. We encountered ten rabbit carcasses. Saw a few live bunnies but not the usual bunny every hour or so all day long. We found another carcass in Canebrake a couple weeks ago. We were led to some carcasses by crows and suspect this predator (and others) is how the disease (assuming this is RHDV2) would be able to spread the 16 miles "as the crow flies" from the first sighting near Piedras Grandes to IP/Potrero. Was rather disappointing to see all the carnage. Will report this to Fish and Wildlife.
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Buford Posts: 456
3/1/2021
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tommy750 wrote:
Just got back from a three day BP trip with Daren through Inner Pasture and Potrero. We encountered ten rabbit carcasses. Saw a few live bunnies but not the usual bunny every hour or so all day long. We found another carcass in Canebrake a couple weeks ago. We were led to some carcasses by crows and suspect this predator (and others) is how the disease (assuming this is RHDV2) would be able to spread the 16 miles "as the crow flies" from the first sighting near Piedras Grandes to IP/Potrero. Was rather disappointing to see all the carnage. Will report this to Fish and Wildlife.
That does not sound encouraging. I remember Inner Pasture and Indian Gorge in the past having rabbits everywhere when driving and hiking.
I haven't noticed any dead rabbits in the last couple months hiking the northern parts of the park but have seen a few live ones.
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Links to my photos: ABDSP photos, Bighorn sheep photos, ABDSP time lapse video, Wildlife photos (mainly birds)
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Britain Posts: 602
3/7/2021
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Saw a bunch of them also in the same area about a month ago. One l looked at looked like it had a bullet hole in the side lots of blood and was pretty fresh .We seen about 10 dead rabbits scattered about. Didnt see any coyotes either. Seems like they would have got the rabbit remains.
edited by Britain on 3/7/2021
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Cant drive 55
Britain
http://icorva.com
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