Feeding Deer Can Kill With Kindness 2-24-2010

Feeding Deer Can Kill With Kindness
WATERBURY, Vt - There are right ways and wrong ways to feed deer. In Vermont, the right ways are legal, and the wrong ways are illegal. In mid-late winter, many deer enthusiasts become concerned that deer are suffering from winter stress and low food supplies. Some people may be inclined to start feeding deer foods such as bagged corn or grain, which is illegal.“This is one of the best ways I know to kill a large number of deer in a small area in a short amount of time,” says Dr. Shawn Haskell, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s deer project leader. “The problem is that a deer’s diet cannot be changed rapidly in winter without damage to its digestive system.”

Deer have a four-compartment stomach that relies on microbes for digestion. The types of microbes change gradually in early winter to digest woody browse and again in spring to a digest green vegetation.

Illnesses such as acidosis and enterotoxemia often result when the winter diet is suddenly switched to simpler, more digestible, carbohydrates such as corn or grain. Enterotoxemia occurs when the simpler carbohydrates cause bacteria to bloom in the deer’s digestive system. The bacteria are beneficial at normal abundance, but too many bacteria release a neurotoxin that is absorbed into the blood, resulting in death.

“Our wardens maintain vigilance for signs of new diseases such as chronic wasting disease,” Haskell added. “They call me when they observe cases of possible disease-infected deer. This time of year it is frequently a feeding illness. It is important that we are notified when deer are seen acting abnormally.”

Afflictions such as brainworm, hemorrhagic disease, and feeding diseases can cause symptoms similar to those for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer. Otherwise healthy-looking deer that stagger, fall down, or cannot stand can be symptomatic of a feeding illness that causes death within 24 to 72 hours. Domestic dogs that chase deer during winter can cause similar symptoms, also resulting in death. Checking stomach contents can confirm a feeding-related illness.

Feeds purchased in stores sometimes contain animal proteins that could cause introduction of a disease such as CWD which is why it is illegal in Vermont to feed captive deer any food containing animal protein.

It is very difficult to harm deer by feeding them legally. Planting apple trees and removing nearby trees that shade them can provide more apples for deer. Food-plots can provide important energy in the spring for lactating females and later for fawns that need digestible forage. Autumn food-plots help deer store fat going into winter, and good body condition in early winter is very important for overwinter survival. Felling firewood trees in late winter puts deciduous tree-tops, a good late-winter deer food, where deer can reach them.

Haskell pointed out that aiding the health and productivity of a local deer population often means that more adult female deer need to be harvested to keep the population in balance with available winter habitat.
Contact:
Shawn Haskell (802) 751-2647 or Scott Darling (802) 786-3862