Dead Rabbits Pile Up in St. Louis

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Dozens of rabbits showed up dead in a neighborhood in Saint Louis, MO over the last three weeks.

One possible cause considered has been West Nile Virus. West Nile has been getting worse in Missouri, but the DNR has ruled it is not West Nile. I tend to agree with this. West Nile doesn't target rabbits and surely there would also be some squirrels or something among the dead.

Another possibility is that their food has been poisoned. The DNR is supposed to conduct a research for a possible cause.

My husband woke me up this morning with this. He said they found dead rabbits in a neighborhood in Missouri, and barely opening my eyes I said "earthquake coming".

Anyone have a good possibility?

reply to post by tport17


There is another site on here somewhere that said a dead rabbit was tested and found to have the plague.

Are you talking about this thread?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

He doesn't mentioned rabbits in St. Louis but I suppose the plague could be a possible cause.

reply to post by tport17


myxomatosis, In my area I know that fleas were a big problem this summer which I associate with the dryer than normal weather.

Originally posted by tport17
Are you talking about this thread?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

He doesn't mentioned rabbits in St. Louis but I suppose the plague could be a possible cause.

edit on 19-9-2012 by tport17 because: (no reason given)

Yes, that's it. I couldn't remember what state the rabbit was found in so I didn't mention it. Could there be a link between these deaths? Or were they just poisoned?

Originally posted by texasgirl
reply to post by tport17

 

There is another site on here somewhere that said a dead rabbit was tested and found to have the plague.

That was in Colorado Springs, Roes site said yesterday.

Originally posted by iforget
reply to post by tport17

 

myxomatosis, In my area I know that fleas were a big problem this summer which I associate with the dryer than normal weather.

Hmm, that could be it. I had to read a wiki to find out what myxomatosis is, and it said death would occur after 48 hrs- 10 days. That could explain why it seemed to happen suddenly.

I live on the other side of the state, but fleas actually were not a problem at all this year for us. Not sure about the St. Louis area, though.

reply to post by tport17


What kind of rabbits? There is a hemorrhagic disease but I think cotton tails are not effected.

reply to post by iforget


I have no idea what kind of rabbits they were. None of the articles I read have said. I tried to Google the most common rabbits in the area but I'm not finding anything.

I thought that only happened on Easter. Saw it back in 81 in Sheboygan Wisconsin, many dead bunnies on the streets in the morning. Guess there was a little too much traffic that night to be delivering Easter eggs.

reply to post by tport17


probably cottontails according to the MDC

From other articles I've read, the bodies show no visible signs of trauma.

Sounds like they were poisoned, imo.

Originally posted by rickymouse
I thought that only happened on Easter.

Saw it back in 81 in Sheboygan Wisconsin, many dead bunnies on the streets in the morning. Guess there was a little too much traffic that night to be delivering Easter eggs.

I bet that made for a fun Easter egg hunt for the kiddos

These rabbits were found scattered around people's yards, I guess. One man had some in his garden and under his kid's play house. None of the rabbits appeared physically harmed.

Originally posted by iforget
reply to post by tport17

 

myxomatosis, In my area I know that fleas were a big problem this summer which I associate with the dryer than normal weather.

Hopefully not as that is a serious epidemic. Remember myxomatosis in the UK in the 70's and 80's? You would still find rabbits with it in the 90's. Can cause some horrible deformities in those that survive. Just remember vividly being occasionally confronted by diseased rabbits as a kid.

I used to know a cracking joke about myxomatosis. Can't for the life of me remember it now, which is highly irritating!

Originally posted by Flavian

Originally posted by iforget
reply to post by tport17

 

myxomatosis, In my area I know that fleas were a big problem this summer which I associate with the dryer than normal weather.

Hopefully not as that is a serious epidemic. Remember myxomatosis in the UK in the 70's and 80's? You would still find rabbits with it in the 90's. Can cause some horrible deformities in those that survive. Just remember vividly being occasionally confronted by diseased rabbits as a kid.

I used to know a cracking joke about myxomatosis. Can't for the life of me remember it now, which is highly irritating!

Sorry, I don't remember. Mostly before my time haha.

I don't know much about rabbit diseases. What you have said makes it seem unlikely myxomatosis is the case, though.

reply to post by tport17


It can have variations but, from what i remember seeing, their heads swell and they get blisters, sores and tumours. And they go blind.

Ah, just seen on Wiki (so probably wrong!) that there is a difference in Myxomatosis in European and North American rabbits - mainly facial tumors in North America but much worse in Europe. Makes you wonder if the European are more interbred!

And this may very well be how it starts. Our animal population is infected with one disease or another, some contagious, others not.


www.humanillnesses.com...
www.pueblo.us...
news.yahoo.com...
www.foxnews.com...
whitenosebats.wordpress.com...

And as you have seen in the news I could go on. Then of course you have bee colony die - offs, no bees no gardens. The entire food chain disrupted right down to the grass.

And when that happens in humans we get, deficiencies in minerals vitamins and nutrients, sickness, disease.

Originally posted by Playto76
And this may very well be how it starts. Our animal population is infected with one disease or another, some contagious, others not.


www.humanillnesses.com...
www.pueblo.us...
news.yahoo.com...
www.foxnews.com...
whitenosebats.wordpress.com...

And as you have seen in the news I could go on. Then of course you have bee colony die - offs, no bees no gardens. The entire food chain disrupted right down to the grass.

And when that happens in humans we get, deficiencies in minerals vitamins and nutrients, sickness, disease.

It is crazy how many diseased animals across the country go unnoticed. I hadn't heard about any of the topics found at your links. The question becomes, is it normal for there to be various diseased animals across the country/world, or is this on the rise?

I have no facts at the moment but my guess is that because the US had such bizarre weather this past year, it has caused diseases to spring up more than usual. But I would need to go do some research. And really, that is another thread entirely.

I'll give you odds it was something put down by a lawncare company. I had a neighbor who used one and that night after the lawn guy did his thing I saw a squirrel writing in his yard. I took it in to care for it and it was dead within hours.
Lawncare companies use harsh chemicals and their staff are often poorly trained if at all. No telling how much toxins could have been spread around.
Given a rabbit's preferred diet of grasses and forbs I would consider this to be the most likely candidate.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Arrrrrr, my personal pet peeve, lawn chemicals. I've had so many skin and respiratory problems since moving here to a suburb with big yards and people and the county spraying crap all over every patch of grass that exists. God forbid a lawn should have clover in it instead of perfectly uniform grass blades. I use a lawn care company, too, only because we have no place to stow a lawn mower big enough for our lawn. But they only cut the lawn. No chemicals on my property! I'm fortunate our HOA isn't too picky.

I can't necessarily blame ignorant homeowners. I read the homeowners association documents of different neighborhoods around here before I settled into my house and learned that a lot of neighborhoods forbid homeowners from planting gardens, you can't even plant a flower that is not on their approved list. You are required by regulations to maintain a pure grass lawn. It takes chemicals to do this.

As for the rabbits, if they are not showing signs of trauma or injury it sounds like it can't be the myxomatosis. That disease looks like it leaves visible signs. But the theory of an earth quake...not sure how an earthquake in the future can kill rabbits now. Unless there is a release of gas somewhere.

Also, if there are so many rabbits around that some localities actually imported myxomatosis to purposely infect their rabbits, (which i think is cruel and monstrous and wasteful) why aren't we doing ad campaigns to eat more rabbits? Or export them to people who are starving. Here on ATS we are always worried about famine around the corner, yet we have all these rabbits nobody wants running around. They are as edible as beef or chicken, are they not? We need to be less finicky and more resourceful if we are to survive.