Last week, the Associated Press reported in DNR tweaks Minnesota deer hunt rules to check chronic wasting:
Minnesota is taking a three-pronged approach to curbing the spread of a fatal brain disease among the state's estimated 1 million wild deer, the state Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday.
The agency has taken an aggressive approach to combating chronic wasting disease, which is incurable, said Lou Cornicelli, the DNR's wildlife research manager.
"In the case of this disease, we know doing nothing is not an option," Cornicelli said in a teleconference.
The agency plans to expand hunting opportunities and bag limits in areas where the disease has been found in wild deer. Harvesting more deer will reduce chances of the disease being spread, the DNR said.
A ban on feeding deer and using attractants — including doe urine and mineral or salt blocks — will go into effect in 18 counties in southeastern and north-central Minnesota on Sunday. Feeding is already banned in six central Minnesota counties. The DNR said shared food encourages close contact among deer, leading to the easy spread of disease. The agency said it expanded the ban after additional cases of chronic wasting disease were discovered in wild deer last fall and winter.
"We understand people enjoy feeding birds or other animals, but this has inherent risks," DNR wildlife health specialist Erik Hildebrand said in a news release. . . .
Read the entire article at Minnesota Public Radio. Readers interested in learning more should consider checking one or more of the events described in a forwarded email from Rochester area outdoorsman:
With the topic of wildlife diseases as one of the topics that is on the minds of most outdoorsmen/women and hunters, I felt the need to share a couple upcoming events that will look into/cover Chronic Wasting Disease in white-tailed deer.
Sept 8th at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center near Lanesboro, MN with keynote speaker Dr Peter Larson from the UofM’s college of veterinary medicine - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brunch-on-the-bluff-the-origin-and-spread-of-chronic-wasting-disease-tickets-66360388709?fbclid=IwAR3qIC_WKh3CC8P5jq3NrOCVhJAFOK-DM_AowllKj_Obytaj1AJo8ERlbS0
Sep 14th at UofM Bell Museum (St Paul Campus) – a Spotlight Science: Chronic Wasting Disease from 11am-3pm, with multiple speakers from UofM college of veterinary sciences. This event is free with general gallery admission that can be found on the museum’s website. - https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/event/spotlight-cwd/
Sept 17th at Pope & Young Club museum in Chatfield, MN from 6-8pm Bluffland Whitetails Association is having an open house meeting that we have invited Cory Anderson from the UofM diagnostic research CWD program to speak on items they are currently working on and discuss/answer questions on current research. It is asked but not required that people rsvp on the event tab on the groups facebook page to have an approximate head count for the museum staff.
Sept 19th Chronic Wasting Disease in Bluff Country Forum at Rushford-Peterson High School (Rushford, MN) auditorium from 7-10pm with keynote speaker Bryan Richards the emerging disease coordinator from the USGS national wildlife center. This is a free event hosted by the area county farm bureau’s and is open to the public.
Bluestem hopes readers will attend these events. There is a charge for the first event; certainly the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center in the Lanesboro area deserves support, as do regional groups like the Bluffland Whitetails Association.
Photo: A healthy whitetail buck.
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