Sharpshooters help keep deer disease in check
By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 6, 2013
Efforts in Illinois to control the prevalence of chronic wasting disease in wild deer have succeeded while rates of the disease have soared in Wisconsin, according to a study by veterinary researchers.
The difference: Targeted sharpshooting in Illinois areas with CWD-positive deer. Continue reading
By Dan Egan of the Journal Sentinel
Nov. 5, 2013
For the first time, Asian carp DNA has turned up in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters, the state Department of Natural Resources reported Tuesday.
The single positive water sample for the jumping silver carp was taken May 31 in Sturgeon Bay near Door County’s Potawatomi State Park. Continue reading
By: Curtis Rush News reporter, Published on Wed Oct 16 2013, Mystar
Moose populations are thinning out in certain parts of Ontario, mirroring a disturbing pattern across other parts of North America. Why the numbers are dropping in certain areas — while they are climbing in others — isn’t known. Continue reading
September 28, 2013 5:15 am • RON SEELY | Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Prions — the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer — can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes, according to new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
The research further demonstrated that stems and leaves from tainted plants were infectious when injected into laboratory mice.
The findings are significant, according to the researchers and other experts, because they reveal a previously unknown potential route of exposure to prions for a Wisconsin deer herd in which the fatal brain illness continues to spread. The disease has also become a pressing problem nationwide: The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified the deer disease in 17 states and predicts it will spread to other states. Continue reading
William Pentland, Contributor, Forbes
8/28/2013 @ 1:37PM
The rapidly rising population of white-tailed deer pose a more significant threat to forest habitats across the eastern United States than global warming, according to a new study by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
“White-tailed deer likely impact every landscape east of the Mississippi River,” said the TNC. “The damage has been insidious — both slow moving and cumulative.”
Deer overpopulation results in overfeeding on select plant species, which can quickly alter the composition and structure of forests.
The study claims that that white-tailed deer inflict more damage on habitat integrity in the eastern United States than any other native vertebrate species.
“In our opinion, no other threat to forested habitats is greater at this point in time — not lack of fire, not habitat conversion, not climate change. Only invasive exotic insects and disease have been comparable in magnitude,” the TNC said. “While we acknowledge that climate change is a long-term stressor that will lead to significant changes in eastern forest ecosystems, high deer populations have had a much greater negative impact currently and over the last several decades.” Continue reading
