What’s Happening to All the Animals? Mysterious Fungus Killing Snakes in 9 States; Deer Dropping Dead Around California Lake

By Wilson Ring. Hidden on hillsides in a remote part of western Vermont, a small number of venomous timber rattlesnakes slither among the rocks, but their isolation can’t protect them from a mysterious fungus spreading across the eastern half of the country that threatens to wipe them out.

In less than a decade, the fungus has been identified in at least nine Eastern states, and although it affects a number of species, it’s especially threatening to rattlesnakes that live in small, isolated populations with little genetic diversity, such as those found in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York.

In Illinois the malady threatens the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which was a candidate for the federal endangered species list even before the fungus appeared. (Read more from “Mysterious Fungus Killing Snakes in 9 States” HERE)

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Wildlife Officials Puzzled Why Deer Are Dropping Dead Around Lodi Lake

By Anjali Hemphill. Dead deer have been showing up at a popular hiking area near Lodi Lake.

Four carcasses have been found in just the last two months in a mystery for wildlife officials.

The dead deer have been found in the same general area along a walking trail near Lodi Lake.

Animal services officer Brena DeFazio says four deer carcasses have turned up near Lodi Lake in just the last two months.

“It’s very concerning to us,” she said. “We have not found this many deceased deer in the nature area of Lodi in the time that I’ve been employed there.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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