Friday, January 21, 2011

MINNESOTA NEWS: Deer Harvest Up 7% Over 2009

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says thanks to ideal hunting weather during opening weekend of the firearms season, hunters harvested a total of 207,000 deer during the 2010 season. That's the 13th largest harvest on record.

Source: NECN.com

MINNESOTA NEWS: CWD Detected in Wild Deer

Posted without comment.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources may have found the state's first wild deer infected with chronic wasting disease.

The deer was among 524 tested for the disease in the Pine Island area. DNR officials say preliminary screening by the University of Minnesota strongly indicates a positive case, but the agency is waiting for confirmation from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

Source: WQOW

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

BRITISH COLUMBIA NEWS: Deer Populations Altering Gulf Islands

Booming deer populations on some Gulf Islands are driving away songbirds and leaving the area susceptible to invasion by foreign species, says a recent study.

Following hunting bans on many small islands in the 1970s, deer populations grew. People began feeding deer, which compounded the problem. Now residents of at least one island are looking at sterilization as a control measure, but are getting little support from the provincial government.

I'll post my own synopsis of this study--it is quite good.

Source: Nanaimo Daily News

I've included a picture from the study that shows vegetation on low, medium, and high deer density islands.

Monday, January 17, 2011

OHIO NEWS: Cleveland Area Municipalities Struggle With Deer

The News-Herald provides a nice overview of how Cleveland area municipalities have been struggling with record deer numbers.

Come springtime, Carole Clement will break out the coyote urine.

She will begin her annual ritual of using it to soak cotton strips that she places atop sticks erected around her gardens.

"It's kind of a universally known deer repellent," the Mentor resident said.

She lives near Veterans Park, where a recent deer count indicated a large overpopulation.

Clement, an active member of several conservation groups, addressed City Council last year about the deer threat to vegetation.

"In 50 years it's going to be ‘Veterans Meadow' because they've eaten all the seedlings and the young saplings," she said.

Deer in Lake, Coyahoga, and Geauga Counties face minimal hunting pressure and now reside in ever-increasing "no hunting zones" subdivided residential housing developments. Recently several parks and municipalities have ended sharpshooting due to budget constraints.

Several organizations are looking at developing a regional deer management strategy, with the Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership taking a lead role.

Source: News-Herald