Scrapes may act as sentinels for CWD prions

[fairchaser]

Attached is one of several research articles regarding the study done on Ames, testing scrapes for CWD prions and how deer may use these to spread the disease.

 

[Novocaine]

Attached is one of several research articles regarding the study done on Ames, testing scrapes for CWD prions and how deer may use these to spread the disease.

That is one awesome study! Reading through it now. Seem like saliva may be more of a concern than urine/ feces based on results from soil vs licking branch. Dr. Deer posted a study from MS recently that showed CWD levels on gravity feeders where the deer were putting their mouths.

 

[BSK]

I have always suggested bucks have higher CWD rates than does because of their intense use of scrapes. Lots of bodily fluid exchange going on at scrapes. Does use scrapes too, but not at the rate bucks do. Scrapes are primarily a male-to-male communication device.

 

[quackaholic]

So... now we just need to convince deer to communicate in some other way. Perhaps a well meaning liberal will provide them with an app for that.

 

[Andy S.]

........ a study from MS recently that showed CWD levels on gravity feeders where the deer were putting their mouths.

Link below.

Supplemental feeding increased the risk of exposure to CWD prions

 

[Griswold]

Just more money wasted on studies that change nothing but someone's pocket book, not gonna stop it, cant fix it, let it be and carry on. Not to be that guy but no , nothing new here, stop wasting money on something your not gonna change

 

[BSK]

Just more money wasted on studies that change nothing but someone's pocket book, not gonna stop it, cant fix it, let it be and carry on. Not to be that guy but no , nothing new here, stop wasting money on something your not gonna change

This is why, even though deer management is my business, I don't spend much time on CWD issues. Yes it will impact deer management. However, there is nothing we can do about that. So I don't waste a lot of mental effort on it. I will deal with it the best way possible, but beyond that, I'm not losing sleep over it.

 

[quackaholic]

This is why, even though deer management is my business, I don't spend much time on CWD issues. Yes it will impact deer management. However, there is nothing we can do about that. So I don't waste a lot of mental effort on it. I will deal with it the best way possible, but beyond that, I'm not losing sleep over it.

I think we fail to realize that deer are social creatures which gather in groups, travel and interact with other groups and eat in the same spots. If they strictly browsed on above ground vegetation, and never visited the same mineral lick or ground food source: we may have a shot at eliminating the disease. That is just simply not the case. I am still a firm believer that we have killed way more deer in the name of saving deer than the disease will have ever claimed.

 

[peytoncreekhunter]

So... now we just need to convince deer to communicate in some other way. Perhaps a well meaning liberal will provide them with an app for that.

Yes, a dating / hook up app possibly.

Call it Field to Bedroom.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Should we expect for mock scrapes to be banned by the state....

 

[quackaholic]

Should we expect for mock scrapes to be banned by the state....

They will never know unless you get a bait license

 

[fairchaser]

I think we fail to realize that deer are social creatures which gather in groups, travel and interact with other groups and eat in the same spots. If they strictly browsed on above ground vegetation, and never visited the same mineral lick or ground food source: we may have a shot at eliminating the disease. That is just simply not the case. I am still a firm believer that we have killed way more deer in the name of saving deer than the disease will have ever claimed.

You might be right that more deer have been killed to save deer than the disease. This could be especially true in low prevalence areas. Wouldn't it be worth it if by killing an infected deer, thousands of other deer might be saved?

The other perspective is to stop killing ANY deer. Make it illegal to shoot a deer. A deer is like a bald eagle, to be protected. Since CWD can't be stopped, allow the herd to fix itself or at least try and recover. It should find a solution quicker with a larger and stronger herd without human intervention. Allow deer to forgo the stress of a 4 month long hunting season. Maybe they need a sabbatical.

I'm curious which approach seems like the best solution for the herd's sake?

 

[quackaholic]

You might be right that more deer have been killed to save deer than the disease. This could be especially true in low prevalence areas. Wouldn't it be worth it if by killing an infected deer, thousands of other deer might be saved?

The other perspective is to stop killing ANY deer. Make it illegal to shoot a deer. A deer is like a bald eagle, to be protected. Since CWD can't be stopped, allow the herd to fix itself or at least try and recover. It should find a solution quicker with a larger and stronger herd without human intervention. Allow deer to forgo the stress of a 4 month long hunting season. Maybe they need a sabbatical.

I'm curious which approach seems like the best solution for the herd's sake?

I have always been skeptical of the CWD "kill em to save em" approach. Why? Because, unlike EHD where we can find hundreds of dead deer in an affected area, that doesn't happen with CWD. Yes it takes longer to kill. But what are the chances of that infected deer being killed by a coyote or car or even a hunter before the disease actually kills it? They have never promoted killing all the elk or mule deer and they still have herds of them. Last I checked some places are over run with them. Now where the disease is prevalent, and we see deer walking around sick everywhere, then maybe eliminating them makes sense. But then you still have the ground contamination that new deer that move into the area will still get it. Either way you are with a decimated deer herd.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

You might be right that more deer have been killed to save deer than the disease. This could be especially true in low prevalence areas. Wouldn't it be worth it if by killing an infected deer, thousands of other deer might be saved?

The other perspective is to stop killing ANY deer. Make it illegal to shoot a deer. A deer is like a bald eagle, to be protected. Since CWD can't be stopped, allow the herd to fix itself or at least try and recover. It should find a solution quicker with a larger and stronger herd without human intervention. Allow deer to forgo the stress of a 4 month long hunting season. Maybe they need a sabbatical.

I'm curious which approach seems like the best solution for the herd's sake?

IF this were to be a part of the solution, they'd have to do away with predation permits as well, or the deer that are spared by not hunting them would likely be killed by folks trying to keep them out of their fields, completely negating any positive effect from abolishing hunting season. We'd likely also see an uptick in other diseases caused by malnutrition/other diseases and carrying capacity of the land would be negatively impacted in places as well.

 

[Popcorn]

We missed the boat!
Deer farms have expedited the spread of this condition by hundreds of years. We are beyond the point of no return, thanks to "trophy ism" "one upmanship and greed" this has expanded more rapidly than possible without human assistance. Short of an intervention by God we are witnessing the coming of the end for deer and deer hunting as we know it.
Not many things in our world CANNOT BE DESTROYED!
A non living yet fully reactionary pathogen that is very akin to a fatal condition humans already know. Almost alien like, we can't stop it, cannot incinerate, kill, eradicate, dry out, drown, crush or poison it, it will not die! All we have left is discovery of how it all ends…

 

[quackaholic]

We missed the boat!
Deer farms have expedited the spread of this condition by hundreds of years. We are beyond the point of no return, thanks to "trophy ism" "one upmanship and greed" this has expanded more rapidly than possible without human assistance. Short of an intervention by God we are witnessing the coming of the end for deer and deer hunting as we know it.
Not many things in our world CANNOT BE DESTROYED!
A non living yet fully reactionary pathogen that is very akin to a fatal condition humans already know. Almost alien like, we can't stop it, cannot incinerate, kill, eradicate, dry out, drown, crush or poison it, it will not die! All we have left is discovery of how it all ends…

And the sky is falling and the oceans are rising!!!

 

[BSK]

We missed the boat!
Deer farms have expedited the spread of this condition by hundreds of years. We are beyond the point of no return, thanks to "trophy ism" "one upmanship and greed" this has expanded more rapidly than possible without human assistance. Short of an intervention by God we are witnessing the coming of the end for deer and deer hunting as we know it.
Not many things in our world CANNOT BE DESTROYED!
A non living yet fully reactionary pathogen that is very akin to a fatal condition humans already know. Almost alien like, we can't stop it, cannot incinerate, kill, eradicate, dry out, drown, crush or poison it, it will not die! All we have left is discovery of how it all ends…

I do not believe for a second we are seeing the end of the white-tailed deer or deer hunting. Nature/God is an amazing thing. Through Natural Selection and genetic variation (of which, the white-tailed deer has some of the highest values in the mammalian world) a solution/resistance will be found. Will it take a while? Probably many, many generations of deer.

 

[AlabamaSwamper]

Why not approach it like Nebraska?

They openly say CWD hasn't caused population declines and it's been there probably longer than anywhere except Colorado. Therefore they really just carry on except for testing in a few counties each year. Deer congregate there way more dense than here. You got 10,000 acres and all the deer are on 200. Pretty common

And from what I've seen out there they are correct.

 

[Popcorn]

I do not believe for a second we are seeing the end of the white-tailed deer or deer hunting. Nature/God is an amazing thing. Through Natural Selection and genetic variation (of which, the white-tailed deer has some of the highest values in the mammalian world) a solution/resistance will be found. Will it take a while? Probably many, many generations of deer.

"As we know it" was the phrase. There is a substantial difference in what I said and what you got from it.
For many this end has already occurred. I don't pretend to predict the end all but rather a significant shift (still a game ended for many).
Consider also that deer farms are directly responsible for the expeditious spread of CWD and yet many still exist with little as far as accountability.

 

[mike243]

Well if plants can uptake the prions and the deer run rampant through the fields it sounds like we are already getting exposed to it by the vegetables we eat, you all ever think about that?

 

[BSK]

"As we know it" was the phrase. There is a substantial difference in what I said and what you got from it.
For many this end has already occurred. I don't pretend to predict the end all but rather a significant shift (still a game ended for many).

I can live with that clarification.

Consider also that deer farms are directly responsible for the expeditious spread of CWD and yet many still exist with little as far as accountability.

Of course they are responsible. As are those hunters who purchased deer from them and released them into the wild, which is almost certainly how we got the CWD hotspot near Ames. Why are deer farms allowed to exist? Money. Always follow the money.

 

[Woodsman10]

Maybe since we can dump corn all year, the deer will quit scraping and spreading CWD???

 

[UCStandSitter]

Yes, a dating / hook up app possibly.

Call it Field to Bedroom.

I was thinking Only Does

 

[peytoncreekhunter]

I was thinking Only Does

Or Hoe Does.....lol