Montana

First known deer tick in Montana found on couple's dog after hunting trip

Published

11 months ago

April 11, 2025

First known deer tick in Montana found on couple's dog after hunting trip

When a Montana hunter discovered an unusual looking tick on her dog, she submitted it to a research lab where they soon discovered that this was a tick that had never been seen before in Montana.

“We don’t want to sit at home, worrying about ticks; we want to get out there,” said Kim Kotur.

Watch the story here:

First deer tick in Montana found on couple’s dog after hunting trip

Mel and Kim Kotur were petting their dog, Maisie, after a hunting trip in eastern Montana when they felt something in her fur.

“I was petting her and just felt something on there. At first I thought maybe it was hounds’ tongue or some kind of weed seed, and turns out looking at it, it was a tick,” said Mel Kotur.

“It was right on her collar, on the front of her neck,” said Kim.

When the Koturs discovered the tick, they noticed it didn’t look like the ticks they’re used to seeing.

“You know, being outside a lot, we’ve seen a lot of ticks. They’ve all been wood ticks; this one just looked a little different,” said Mel.

MTN News

Mel and Kim Kotur

What the Koturs didn’t know at the time was that they had found the first documented Black Legged Tick, commonly called the deer tick, in Montana. Until this point, the tick has only been seen as far west as North Central North Dakota and is now the first tick in Montana that can carry Lyme Disease.

“What’s happening is that these ticks might be moving into Montana looking for hosts like a deer maybe in these riparian water corridors and then that’s kind of helping them migrate into the state,” said Marni Rolston.

Rolston is a Lab Diagnostician at the MSU Schutter Lab. The lab mainly focuses on plants, but they also work to identify ticks.

“These ticks were removed from a dog, and they’re full blood engorged,” said Rolston.

Deer ticks are much smaller than the usual kinds of ticks found in Montana.

“The nymphal stage can be small; it’s about only as large as a poppyseed and then the adult stages are a bit larger. But they’re still pretty small compared to our normal ticks. The adult stages tend to be the size of a sesame seed,” said Rolston.

While these ticks can carry Lyme Disease, not all of them have it. The ticks must be infected by another Lyme disease-carrying animal to keep spreading the disease. Luckily, infection doesn’t happen immediately.

“It needs to blood feed for at least 24 hours before it can transmit the disease to you. So you have 24 hours to try and find these ticks once they’ve attached to you,” said Rolston.

The Koturs always take extra precaution when going on their hunting trips, using sprays and special clothing made for warding off ticks.

“So you put that over your socks and you put that over the outside, and the ticks crawl up and get stuck in there and they come all the way up your leg,” said Kim.

Ticks are most present in the early summer months, but deer ticks may extend this time period.

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Montana

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Apparent AI Glitch in Filing by Montana Public Defender, Recent Congressional Candidate

Everyone makes mistakes, even experienced professionals; a good reminder for the rest of us to learn from those mistakes. The motion in State v. Stroup starts off well in its initial pages (no case law hallucinations), but is then followed by several pages of two other motions, which I don’t think the lawyer was planning to file, and which appear to have been AI-generated: It begins with the “Below is concise motion language you can drop into …” language quoted above.

Griffen Smith (Missoulian) reported on the story, and included the prosecutor’s motion to strike that filing, on the grounds that it violates a local rule (3(G)) requiring disclosure of the use of generative AI:

The document does not include a generative artificial intelligence disclosure as required. However, page 7 begins as follows: “Below is concise motion language you can drop into a ‘Motion to Admit Mental-Disease Evidence and for Related Instructions’ keyed to 45-6-204, 45-6-201, and 4614-102. Adjust headings/captions to your local practice.” Page 10 states “Below is a full motion you can paste into your pleading, then adjust names, dates, and styles to fit local practice.” These pages also include several apparent hyperlinks to “ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws,” “ppl-ai-fileupload.s3.amazonaws+1,” and others. The document includes what appears to be an attempt at a second case caption on page 12. It is not plausible on its face that any source other than generative AI would have created such language for a filed version of a brief….

There’s more in that filing, but here’s one passage:

While generative AI can be a useful tool for some purposes and may have greater application in the future, when used improperly, and without meaningful review, it can ultimately damage both the perception and the reality of the profession. One assumes that Mr. Stroup has had, or will at some point have, an opportunity to review the filing made on his behalf. What impression could a review of pgs. 12-19 leave upon a defendant who struggles with paranoia and delusional thinking? While AI could theoretically one day become a replacement for portions of staff of experienced attorneys, it is readily apparent that this day has not yet arrived.

The Missoulan article includes this response:

In a Wednesday interview, Office of Public Defender Division Administrator Brian Smith told the Missoulian the AI-generated language was inadvertently included in an unrelated filing. And he criticized the county attorney’s office for filing a “four-page diatribe about the dangers of AI” instead of working with the defense to correct her mistake.
“That’s not helping the client or the case,” Smith said, “and all you are doing is trying to throw a professional colleague under the bus.”

As I mentioned, the lawyer involved seems quite experienced, and ran for the Montana Public Service Commission in 2020 (getting nearly 48% of the vote) and for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first district in 2022 (getting over 46% of the vote) and in 2024 (getting over 44%). “Его пример другим наука,” Pushkin wrote in Eugene Onegin—”May his example profit others,” in the Falen translation.

Thanks to Matthew Monforton for the pointer.

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Montana

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

Published

21 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Your guide to local sports events, plus what’s on TV

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Montana

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

HELENA — You probably have goals and plans for 2026—the Montana Department of Agriculture does too.

“We’re really focusing on innovative agricultural practices,” Montana Department of Agriculture director Jillien Streit said.

It’s no secret that agriculture—farming and ranching—is not easy. There are long days, planning, monitoring crops and livestock, and other challenges beyond farmers’ and ranchers’ control.

(WATCH: Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026)

Montana Department of Agriculture focusing on innovation in 2026

“We have very low commodity prices across the board,” Streit said. “We still have very high input prices across the board, and we have really high prices when it comes to our equipment, and so, it’s a really tough year.”

But innovation, including new practices, partnerships and technology use, can help navigate some of those challenges.

“We can’t make more time and we can’t make more land, so we need to start putting together innovative practices that help us maximize what our time and land can do,” Streit said.

Practices range from using technology like autonomous tractors and virtual fencing—allowing rangers to contain and move cattle right from their phones—to regenerative farming and ranching.

“It is bringing cattle back into farming operations to be able to work with cover cropping practices to invigorate the soil for new soil health benefits,” Streit said.

The Montana Department of Agriculture is working to help producers learn, share, and collaborate on new ideas to work in their operations.

The department will share stories of practices that work from farms and ranches across the state. Also, within the next year or so, Streit said the department is hoping to roll out technology to help producers collaborate.

“(It’s) providing a communication platform where people can get together and really help each other out by utilizing each other’s assets,” she said.

While not easy, agriculture is still one of Montana’s largest industries, and Streit said innovating and sharing ideas across the state can keep it going long into the future.

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