It’s a real tricky problem. In most places, humans (via hunting, but also car) are the only predators for deer, so if humans stop hunting them, the problem only gets worse.
The solution is also not reintroducing predators like some of the anti-hunting crowd would have you believe: you aren’t going to get a stable wolf pack in suburban Pennsylvania.
The best solution is probably a radical shift in hunting legislation. Many regulations exist simply to make hunting more difficult. Some regulations, like the existence of hunting seasons were useful before technology to monitor populations really existed, but now we have trail cams, aerial surveys, harvest reporting on phone apps, etc.
It’s easier to take a rifle and go harvest a deer in supposedly gun-averse Australia than it is in most of the places people live in America.
Where I live, you can submit tissue and teeth for testing, or the entire head. It made me laugh because one of the drop boxes (must smell absolutely lovely after a short time) is right across the parking lot of a playground. I just imagine traumatizing a bunch of children trying to get my deer tested.
I live somewhere that “doesnt have cwd” despite confirmed cases right across a geographically meaningless border. A sickly, relatively young deer dropped dead with no signs of trauma last summer on my street. I tried to report it to see if I could have it tested, and I was given contact info for the state biologist. I reached out, but they never got back to me.
I guess there’s no confirmed cases if you don’t confirm cases.
That CWD is one of the main reasons I haven’t filled a tag in a few years. Makes me nervous.
It’s a real tricky problem. In most places, humans (via hunting, but also car) are the only predators for deer, so if humans stop hunting them, the problem only gets worse.
The solution is also not reintroducing predators like some of the anti-hunting crowd would have you believe: you aren’t going to get a stable wolf pack in suburban Pennsylvania.
The best solution is probably a radical shift in hunting legislation. Many regulations exist simply to make hunting more difficult. Some regulations, like the existence of hunting seasons were useful before technology to monitor populations really existed, but now we have trail cams, aerial surveys, harvest reporting on phone apps, etc.
It’s easier to take a rifle and go harvest a deer in supposedly gun-averse Australia than it is in most of the places people live in America.
We also need easy, free CWD testing.
Where I live, you can submit tissue and teeth for testing, or the entire head. It made me laugh because one of the drop boxes (must smell absolutely lovely after a short time) is right across the parking lot of a playground. I just imagine traumatizing a bunch of children trying to get my deer tested.
I live somewhere that “doesnt have cwd” despite confirmed cases right across a geographically meaningless border. A sickly, relatively young deer dropped dead with no signs of trauma last summer on my street. I tried to report it to see if I could have it tested, and I was given contact info for the state biologist. I reached out, but they never got back to me.
I guess there’s no confirmed cases if you don’t confirm cases.
Does it cost money for you?
@evasive_chimpanzee @Hideakikarate
Colorado?
Washington state.
There are more than enough Germans in PA to make a wolfpack. Not sure about the stability, or how you’ll hunt deer in submarines though…
Yeah, I’ve avoided venison since learning about prions and CWD
If you like that, you’ll love screwworms and extra spicy ticks!