BELDING, Mich. — The EHD virus is believed to have killed roughly 15,000 deer in Michigan last year.Donna Jones with the Department of Natural Resources said that in Ionia and Montcalm Counties combined, there have been two reported deer deaths from the virus this year compared to hundreds at this time last year.
“We were kind of concerned going into the season, but we still checked a lot of deer here, so we were kind of wondering what this year would bring,” said Jones.
Jones said that last year’s drought created a breeding ground for the virus. Jones said that weather conditions over the summer were more typical for west Michigan, so the virus wasn’t able to spread the way it did the year prior.
The DNR deer check station in Belding will be open from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. everyday until Thanksgiving.
