Deer

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Brenda
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While this video is wrong on so many levels, I can't help but have that "Awww" response. Also, with the season approaching I thought that it would be a good time to start this thread because, while I don't hunt, I am the "camp cook." It's not that I'm squeamish--I've aged hundreds of dead deer and helped field dress many, but I can't kill them myself. Anti-hunters, feel free to comment. Recipes are also available. :)

http://video.yahoo.com:80/video/play?vid=67160&fr=yvmtf
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aged? Field dress? huh?
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cbobcat49
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Are we to assume that these deer are these people's pets or are they wild and have gotten used to humans? It seems like they're pets. If so, that video isn't any different than filling up my dog bowl and then watch him walk up and start eating.

If we're going to start a hunting/anti-hunting thread... I don't have any problem with hunting or hunters. They do help control the population. Better to be shot than roadkill or starvation.

I could never bring myself to kill another mammal though. It's just not in me.


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mconheady wrote:aged? Field dress? huh?
When I was a seasonal with the DEC (in wildlife) I worked at a cooperative hunting area which also operated as a deer check station during gun season. Hunters could bring their deer there to be aged and weighed. I had to be recertified to age deer every year, using the wear and replacement method (lower teeth). I also had to travel around to area deer processors throughout the season to collect data on the deer they had in their walk-in coolers.

Field dressing involves preparing the deer to be taken to the processor, unless you cut up your own deer, which we don't. It's a messy, unpleasant task, but I've helped my husband on numerous occasions.

I really didn't think that there would be many people here who would disagree that populations need to be controlled. However, living in the heart of wine country, I do struggle with the number of nuisance permits that are issued to protect the vineyards.

As far as the video goes, I have a huge problem with people keeping wild animals as pets or doing anything to reduce their natural fear of humans. Feeding deer encourages them to gather in larger numbers than they normally would, thus increasing the potential for the spread of disease. (I'll talk more about Chronic Wasting Disease later.) While it might be cute to have a deer eat from your hand, or at your table, the next person that deer trustingly approaches may be carrying a gun.
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http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7191.html

Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a rare, fatal, neurological disease found in cervids, members of the deer family. It is a transmissible disease that slowly attacks the brain of infected deer and elk, causing the animals to progressively become emaciated, display abnormal behavior and invariably results in the death of the infected animal. It has been known to occur in wild elk and deer populations in parts of some western states for decades. The disease has also been confirmed in captive deer and elk herds in several western states and Canadian Provinces. Its discovery in wild deer in south-central Wisconsin in 2002 has generated unprecedented attention from wildlife managers, hunters, and others interested in deer. CWD poses a significant threat to the deer and elk of North America and, if unchecked, could dramatically alter the future management of wild deer and elk.

CWD is one of a group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) that include scrapie in sheep and goats, transmissible mink encephalopathy of ranched mink, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as "mad cow disease", in cattle. TSE's are thought to be caused by abnormal, proteinaceous, infectious particles called prions (pree-ons). CWD occurs naturally only in mule deer, white-tailed deer and Rocky Mountain Elk and very likely other subspecies of elk. The mode of transmission of CWD has not yet been fully identified and research is ongoing to explore possibilities of transmission of CWD to other species. However, evidence has shown that the disease can pass from cervid to cervid by direct contact through saliva, urine, and feces, and by indirect contact through environmental contamination with infective substances. There is no known treatment for CWD and it is always fatal. Currently there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk for humans or domestic animals.

The state Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Agriculture and Markets (DAM), and Health (DOH), together with the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are cooperating to develop a comprehensive statewide response to the threat of CWD. Together we are actively participating with other agencies and organizations in nationwide efforts to learn more about this disease and to prevent its spread. New York has a vigilant wildlife disease monitoring program in place, comprised of three main components. The first is a regulatory component designed to reduce the risk of bringing the disease into NY from other parts of the country and minimizing its spread if it is brought here. The second part is an ongoing field surveillance program to ensure the early detection of CWD and the third part is an agency response plan in the event that CWD is found. Through these active surveillance programs the cooperating state agencies first detected and verified positive cases of CWD in two captive deer herds in March 2005. A response plan was then initiated to remove future threats for these captive herds and implement a sampling strategy to determine if CWD had spread into wild New York deer herds.
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cbobcat49
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> While it might be cute to have a deer eat from your hand, or at your table, the
> next person that deer trustingly approaches may be carrying a gun.

I agree completely. Driving along the roads of Allegany S.P. you can see whole families of raccoons along the side of the road waiting for handouts... because they're used to it. This then increases danger to the animals themselves (potential roadkill) and to humans (car damage and maybe rabies from bites).

They have a lot of trouble with this in the national parks out west. When we were in Yosemite we heard about a mule deer running over and seriously injuring a young boy... because the animal was conditioned to humans. We also saw a video of a grizzly bear ripping off the door to a car like its claws were a can opener. That was pretty impressive.

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I've watched this doe raise her fawns all summer I finely got a good picture of them tonight,

Image


Here are the two fawns

Image


I also have another doe that has one fawn most of the time the five are togather but not today :(
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Awww, so pretty. I had a fawn out by the gazebo last week, but the dogs spotted it through the window and scared it off before I could grab the camera.
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