The Plague!

[AZhuntingfamily]

I just read an article from ABC stating that fleas around flagstaff have tested positive for the Plague. They are urging people not to sleep on the ground and to avoid contact with dead animals. Kind of a hard thing to do as a hunter! I just thought I would give everyone a heads up. Stay safe!

[DesertBull]

Fleas Probably got it from the Flagstaff hippies

[wish2hunt]

Maybe they should close elk season for safety reasons.

[wildwoody]

Yup this is very funny, not!!

[AZhuntingfamily]

No its not funny, its true. They supposedly discovered it when a resident noticed a bunch of Prarie dogs dying off.

[bonecollector777]

They've found it over in Taylor in fleas and prairie dogs as well.

[DUG]

I'm staying a couple miles from Red Lake for my elk hunt and my area has a big dog town in it. Any good sprays for fleas?

[Titanium700]

Wonder if permethrin 10 would help.

[metau]

The Bubonic Plague has existed in the US for decades. It is in fact carried by the fleas that are found in some prairie dog colonies. An ex of mine did a two year study on the issue for the BLM in Colorado. I was able to assist in the study by going PD hunting on one of the affected colonies and then doing carcass observations of predation/scavaging. There are also other scientific studies that have been done on these colonies. I highly suggest researching these before freaking out over what the news says, you would be quite surprised by what has been documented...

[WHT_MTNMAN]

I hope everyone freaks out, especially about the prarie dogs. They have let (introduced) them into places they have never been. P-Dogs are destroying private property all over Az

[HUNTnTAT2]

Cases emerge every year in the flagstaff area. Nothing new

[nateNAU]

Seriously, people make a much bigger deal of this than it is. The area to the north east of flagstaff ( doney park) hardly goes a year with a positive test for plague. I cant tell you how many times the CDC closed the play ground when I was in elementary school because of this, and in my entire life I can't remember of one person getting sick. It's not the middle ages, and if cought ,is treatable today.

[AZhuntingfamily]

I have only been in AZ for 10 years and this is the first I have heard of the Plague. I dont think it is somthing to be concerned with but it is somthing to be aware of. I would be the guy to get bit by an infected flea day one of my hunt and think I had the flu for the next 14 days only to wind up dead in my lazy boy when I got home. No way would I think I had the Plague! Just some food for thought...no intentions of "freaking people out".

[654321]

Eric York was a biologist for the GCNP he died from the plague in 2007, he got the disease from a female mt lion he did a neo-cropsy on. Plenty of nasty crap in AZ, West Nile, Lyme disease, Hanta virus, ect. ect.

[Delw]

The plague has been in AZ since I been here in 1982 and even before. There used to be signs in seligman and all through out unit 10 from west to east even up to tucyeon(sp) P dogs mainly carried the plague.

it died down dramitically around 1995-1997 when the p-dogs got really thinned out by a few dedicated hunters and the drought. The babbit Ranch pretty much dried up for P-dogs as well as the whole valley from unit 9 around red butte to red lake up on the res in unit 10. we saw maybe 2 dozen for 4-5 years where it used to be 1000 round days in a 5-6 mile area. same with the seligman valley area both north and south and west of seligman. then we got a little rain p-dogs came back and so did the plague. around this time the G&F dept put the black footed ferret in the valley west of seligman. the pdog hunters dissapered due to shooting near or around the ferrets while legal was still not wiorth the risk of killing one of these endangered buggers at 800-1200s thinking it was a p-dog. then the drought came back and dried everything up.

with all the rains we had in the last 4-5 years it doesnt suprise me that the plague is back and the p-dog population is getting close to what it used to be back in the 80s and 90's. well lets just say about 1/2 of what it used to be. They are also spreading out not we have shot them both east west and north of flagstaff. saw some in unit 8 last year unit 9 they are everywhere. going to kaibab a few times 3 years ago I was shooting them on the way back home just north of flag along the res property..

if the p-dog population is around then your guaranteed to have the plague also.

as 654321 mentioned Eric york got it from a mt lion, others have died and only a few have lived through it. 3 of them were p-dog hunters in the 90's 1 from CA if I recall. also a guy from tucson got it as well. one or 2 guys have claimed to gotten it while yote hunting. This is just what I recall since the early 80's.

 

you dont touch p-dogs you wash your hands before you get in your truck and leave the area, then do it again when you get home.

I never worried about the plague as long as you stay clean and dont touch the p-dogs you will be fine. when we shot them with bows we would use rubber gloves and pic up the arrows toss them in the bed of the truck in the sun for a ton of hours then use the arrows again.

Can you get it from other animals yes but its unlikely. as those type of fleas from what I was told hang around on rodents mainly. the lion probably ate a few p-dogs recently and had them on his body. when we heard about the yote guys we quite cutting there tails off/skinning them and just used yotes as ballistic jelly. like they were meant to be

 

what surprises me out of all this is the indians. we would shoot the p-dogs they would come and grab them up put them in a bag and go home. dont know what they did with them and dont care but I dont ever remember reading or hearing about and indian getting sick from the plague.

 

what is really good news about this post is that the P-dogs are back on the rebound big time and I can dust off the 15+ varmit guns I have dig out the 10k+ rounds of ammo and start wacking and stacking again. life is going to be good

 

used to rely on maps with 20 years of p-dog town markings on them to revisit old p-dog areas and hope there was something to splatter. now I been finding new pdog towns by google earth some places show up really well.