A Firsthand Look At Avian Bird Flu In North Dakota This Year

The majority of waterfowl have now migrated through the state of North Dakota.

It was another awesome spectacle to see tens of thousands of migrating Snow geese pass through our state. At times, their sounds were deafening. After a day of bird hunting, I would find myself hearing nothing but Snow geese as I closed my eyes. It's truly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Swarms and swarms of Snow geese, sometimes lined up for miles in the sky, somehow know exactly where to go each fall. Tornadoes of birds like this, southeast of Bismarck, are a common sight in both the fall and spring.

With all those birds comes disease.

No doubt you have heard about avian bird flu by now, and I wanted to show you firsthand how it is affecting, especially our juvenile Snow and Ross goose populations in North Dakota. Here are a couple of videos I took this fall while out waterfowl hunting. Nature sure can be cruel.

As someone who used to raise waterfowl, I wish I could've done something for these sickly birds. Unfortunately, nearly all infected waterfowl will die within a day or two of transmission of avian bird flu. Here are a couple of videos of sickly birds I viewed this past fall, hunting. The birds showed no fear of humans, and they wouldn't leave our decoys.

The shorelines of some of the bigger lakes that I hunted were literally littered with hundreds of dead carcasses of mostly Snow and Ross geese.

In case you are wondering what avian bird flu is and what causes it?

Type A influenza viruses naturally spread among wild aquatic birds (it's been especially bad the last few years), with the subtypes like H5N1 causing major outbreaks, according to the CDC. 

Wild birds spread the virus via direct contact, contaminated surfaces/air with droppings or saliva. These viruses can affect poultry, dairy cows, pets, and sometimes humans through unprotected exposure. It's not something you want to mess around with, and it can be very contagious with poultry. Human infections, though rare, can be severe.

Again, nature sure can be cruel. I probably should've just put these birds out of their misery, but I didn't have the heart.