Snowforest Taiga contagion

with winter’s chill brought the looming threat of death. it was common knowledge amongst the hooved beasts that roamed the wilds. they’d do the best they could to prepare for it. though this year they could do very little.

death swept through this herd slowly and silently. just months ago they blissfully grazed, filling their bellies with the last of spring’s spoils. then one by one they grew ill. one by one they were drained of strength. and one by one death took them.

another would fall today. a white-tailed doe. skin clung to bone. she could barely eat, hardly walk. she dragged herself at the back of the herd until the last of her senses left her and she could follow no more. the doe circled aimlessly through the flatland, more sluggish with every step. eventually she would collapse — and die there, if no predators came to take her away in pieces.

chronic wasting disease has started to spread among the deer, elk, and moose of snowforest taiga.

”in infected animals, cwd starts with a single abnormal protein called a prion, which causes lesions or holes in the animal’s brain, making the cerebellum and cortex resemble a sponge. the lesions cause tremors, chronic weight loss, and confused behavior, such as walking in circles or stumbling.”

written by the shadow