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by David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor January 4, 2025
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will open the winter firearm deer hunting season on January 10, 2025, in Deer Management Region B, covering most of the state except the westernmost counties. Hunters with a valid license can pursue both sika and white-tailed deer during this season.
The firearm season will run January 10-11 across all of Region B, with additional hunting opportunities on Sunday, January 12, in specific areas:

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In Kent, Montgomery, Talbot, and Wicomico counties, shooting hours will conclude at 10:30 a.m.
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“The January firearm season offers hunters another chance to embrace the cold weather and fill the freezer after the holidays,” said Wildlife and Heritage Service Director Karina Stonesifer. “The historically strong antlerless harvest helps us meet population objectives in Region B and provides a great opportunity for many to harvest their first deer of the new year.”
Hunters should note the following guidelines for this season:
The DNR reminds all participants of safety requirements:
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A wildlife nonprofit in the Poconos has confirmed dozens of snow geese in various parts of the Lehigh Valley have tested positive for H5N1, which is also known as the bird flu.
This, as the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced it suspects bird flu killed hundreds more.
“I have never seen it this bad,” Janine Tancredi said.
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Tancredi, the co-executive director of The Wilderz at Pocono Wildlife, has been spending the past few days doing the tough part of her job.
“We’re euthanizing on arrival,” she said. “We don’t really have a choice.”
She and her team found hundreds of birds already dead, she said, when they arrived to a quarry in the Nazareth area on Thursday.
“People were reporting like birds falling from the sky,” Tancredi said. “And it seems far-fetched, but because they become so neurologically disabled, they don’t know their whereabouts. They’re flying into trees. They’re flying into houses.”
She says over the past few days, over four sites in the Nazareth area, and one in the Bethlehem area, every snow goose her team has tested for H5N1 — that’s at least 35 birds — has come back positive.
“So, at the first place, there was 15 dead on arrival,” she said. “We had to euthanize one.”
Tancredi added some of the sites were private property, and owners did not want the locations to be made public, but she says residents within the areas were notified.
She also said she believes the total number of those affected is “probably more like thousands.”
Her findings came as the Pennsylvania Game Commission just announced the deaths of 200 snow geese in the Lehigh Valley are suspected to be bird flu cases.
The game commission said results are yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at its National Veterinary Services Laboratories.
Tancredi said it’s unlikely those cases are anything but the “highly pathogenic avian influenza,” as H5N1 is known, considering the game commission recovered the geese from Lower Nazareth Township in Northampton County and Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County.
“Less than 4 miles from the location that they all tested positive,” Tancredi said.
Still, the Pennsylvania Department of Health says it, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are “confident” the current outbreak “poses a low risk to the health of the general public.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said the commonwealth has been on “high alert” since the outbreak that happened in 2022, and stated:
“To date, there have been no infections in…humans in Pennsylvania.”
But the virus is particularly contagious and lethal to domestic poultry, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said.
“It doesn’t matter how clean you are,” Tancredi said. “I mean, somebody can be going out there, the reality is, five times a day and cleaning their chicken coop, and it takes one bird to fly over that is contaminated and droppings and there’s exposure.”
So what should we be doing? Officials say to avoid contact with bird feces and saliva, where the virus is spread.
Tancredi said organic materials can’t be disinfected, but hard surfaces should be be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution, or what’s called Rescue Disinfectant.
If you have a dog, consider staying away from waterways, and maybe buy some dog booties on Amazon.
“I know it’s like extreme,” Tancredi said, “but would you rather avoid walking your dog for the next several months? Because this is not going to be over soon.”
If you see any dead birds or other animals — or if any look disoriented to you — officials urge you not to touch them, but to report them to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
You can call 1-833-PGC-WILD (1-833-742-9453), or email pgc-wildlifehealth@pa.gov or use the online Wildlife Health Survey tool.
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/bird-flu-h5n1-delaware-geese-potential-outbreak/
By Joe Brandt
January 2, 2025 / 9:47 AM EST / CBS Philadelphia
oultry farmers and hunters in Delaware are being asked to take precautions as state officials investigate a possible bird flu outbreak among snow geese in coastal Sussex County.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources says about 40-50 snow geese, including many at the Prime Hook Wildlife Refuge in Milton, have tested “presumptive positive” for the H5N1 avian flu.
The agency has also received calls about sick birds in the surrounding area.

Experts say there could be 200 to 300 birds infected.
“A total count of sick birds cannot be confirmed because wild birds often get sick and die where the public cannot see them. Snow geese fly long distances, which means infected geese may die in other locations and transmit the virus to other birds, including poultry,” DDNR said.
The DDNR says anyone who finds a sick or dead wild bird should report it to the state via phone at 1-302-739-9912 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or through this online form after hours and on weekends.
The agency recommends wearing personal protective equipment like masks and gloves when dealing with any dead birds. Waterfowl hunters should take precautions, including washing and disinfecting tools.
The agency is urging poultry and livestock owners to be more vigilant in protecting their animals from the disease, including covering mortality and compost piles at all times, removing standing water, keeping waterfowl away from ponds and basins, and creating devices and strategies to keep birds from perching on ledges or entering buildings.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 66 human cases of bird flu. The first case of severe illness in an American human was reported Thursday in Louisiana, in a man over age 65 who was exposed to a backyard flock.
No confirmed human cases have been reported on the East Coast, but Delaware does have one “probable” case from an unknown source of exposure.
Experts warn that the more cases jump to humans, the greater the chance the virus could mutate.
“The concern is, the more we allow spillover into humans, the more likely at some point you might see a mutation that would allow for human-to-human transmission,” CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder said.
Health officials have also warned against feeding pets raw pet food or consuming raw milk, as some cases of bird flu have presented in dairy cattle.