Not so good news !!!!!!

We as PA deer farmers have been regulated to do CWD tests on all animals that die or are harvested in our breeding operations. As far as the PA Game Commission goes, in their PA Hunting and Trapping Digest, on page 52, it states that hunters from the state of PA going out of state to hunt are not allowed to bring any deer, elk or moose from listed states or provinces that has CWD. The states include; Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnisota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oaklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Under the PA Game Commission parts bann, the hunters may not bring back into PA, the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and retropharyngeal lymph nodes) spinal cord/backbone, spleen, skull plate with attached anters if visible brain or spinal cord material is present, cape if visible brain or spinal cord material is present, upper canine teeth if root structure or other soft material is present, any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord material. Unfinished taxidermy mounts or brain tanned hides of any deer, elk or moose from listed states or provinces.

The point that I am getting at here; as other people have stated, its quite ironic after a case of CWD was found behind fence, now they come forward with 3 cases of CWD, two in Blair county PA, one in Bedford county PA. Maybe the PGC needs to look at theirselves as to how CWD entered PA. When was the last time that anyone in the state of PA saw a check station, warden or deputy warden, checking these out of state kills which enter PA every year? They don't! I have seen and talked to hunters at gas stations with entire animals in the back of their trucks with whitetails or elk from some of the states listed above. Maybe its time that our PGC practices controlling the regulations they put into effect. We as deer farmers need permits through the Dept of Agruculture to bring whitetail into the state from other states. Why doesn't the PA game commission make hunters going out of state get permits to get their harvested game back into the state. The moral of my thoughts are: PGC start practicing what you preach. Maybe CWD wouldn't be here if they would have.

Mick Goodman

Goodman's Whitetail Haven

724-493-1040

Mick, Good post. You need to put these in Editorials at your local newspapers in Pa. There are a lot of good CWD articles and information out there, use them. The Pa. breeders will come under attack in the next few weeks, harshly, by the anti's. The Pa. breeders need to show up at all DNR informational [non-informational] meetings that will be coming up. You must present the truth. Believe me from experience.

Gary

CWD did not "enter" any states. No one can protect their state from getting it. CWD is everywhere. But until you honestly look for it you won't find it. Testing a few hundred animals in the wild population of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands is not a true effort to find it. That sort of effort is nothing more than a way of masking the truth.

I think the dnr should be testing 100% of wild hunted and road kill deer. So if all the hunters actually turned in the sample to be tested, then maybe the dnr would back off on cursing the deer farmers. I think if the dnr isn't willing to check 100% of the wild deer, then apparently cwd isn't that big of an issue to them either. The dnr claim to own all the wild deer around here, so why aren't they responsible for the damage dones to vehicles when they are hit on the road? Okay, just my thoughts.

Mike, Found this for Iowa, car collisions, do the math.



Deer Collisions Up 21%, Iowa Ranks 2nd In U.S.

Posted: Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 at 6:26 am

Author: KCII News-Chance Dorland

Print Version



(waymarking.com)

Deer collisions on America’s roads are up.*State Farm Insurance says it saw a 21% increase from five years ago, and Iowa ranks second for total deer-vehicle collisions.* State Farm predicts 1 of every 67 drivers in Iowa, second only to West Virginia, will hit a deer within the next year at an average cost of $3,100.* The Washington County Public Safety Center says drivers should always report a deer collision for public safety and insurance purposes.* The Iowa DOT says 3,490 drivers reported deer-vehicle collisions in 2009, causing nine motorist deaths and an estimated 383 injuries. Since 2001, 68 people have died in Iowa as a result of motor vehicle crashes involving animals.



What does the Iowa wild deer herd cost the farmers of Iowa? Are they compensated for crop losses?



From the Iowa DNR website- The history of deer in Iowa

Cultivated crops, mainly corn and soybeans, provide 78 percent of the annual diet of deer in Iowa.





Interesting they credit deer farms for re-establishing the wild deer herd in Iowa, now they want to penalize farms for escapes.



From the Iowa DNR website- The history of deer in Iowa

Deer were re-established in Iowa through the escape of animals from captive herds, trapping and transplanting programs of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the immigration of animals from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri. In 1894, 35 whitetails escaped from the captive herd of William Cuppy of Avoca, which provided the nucleus for future deer herds in western Iowa. In the early 1920s, about 60 deer escaped from the Singmaster farm in Washington County and became established along the Skunk River. Another herd was established in Boone County at the Ledges State Park in 1928 when two deer, purchased from Minnesota, were released. Deer were captured from this herd and transplanted to other parts of the state during the 1940s.

Hey, like I said the Iowa DNR clams to own every wild animal in Iowa, So I for one think the DNR should take more resposablity for their animals.

The dnr posted in the newspaper that if you shoot a deer and suspect it may have cwd, they say not to eat the brain, eyes or spleen. I'M NOT EATING THAT STUFF ANYWAY !! I work for a garbage disposal company and I know that after the dnr tested deer heads are dumped at the landfill with the rest of the trash, there are thousands of crows eating on them and they fly away only to crap elsewhere, wouldn't this spread the disease? So the dnr is not taking any of this disease seriously in my opinion.

And they say you can turn your Deer in for CWD testing so just think what their cost would be if they actually tested every deer taken,

Let alone what the feed bill would be if the dnr had to pay farmers to feed thier deer and insurance for their deer that get hit by cars.

In Iowa if you find a dead buck ether hit buy a car or dead in the woods and you cut the horns off and get caught there will be a $4,500 fine and loss of huntng privaleges, DNR says it is DNR property.

Yeah PA is the same way......if you try to take the antlers you get fined.....yet they leave the deer lay and rot along the side of the road and do nothing with them.....most of the times the deer do have their antlers cut off....I guess people are willing to take the chance here where I live.........I am glad they do at least they don't go to waste....

Let's make a comparison: CWD-5;

EHD-thousands!!!!

Seems like the Game Commission's focus is stuck on CWD when EHD has killed more. So, what's wrong with this picture?



Mick Goodman

Goodman's Whitetail Haven

724-493-1040

Because they can't pin EHD on the deer farmer!

Here is some ammo for you guys



Infectivity of prions following ingestion and excretion from Coyotes (Canis latrans) — CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found naturally in free-ranging mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni), and moose (Alces alces). Natural transmission of the disease can occur directly, animal-animal or indirectly from contamination from the environment. When a diseased animal dies in the environment insect, avian, and mammalian scavengers eat the infected carcass. The primary carnivore scavengers of white-tailed deer are coyotes, which act as an intermediate host in diseases such as Echinococcosis granulosus tapeworm, or hydatid disease and canine parvovirus. Infected material is ingested and eggs or virus is shed in the feces, which is then inadvertently ingested by herbivores during grazing. With the understanding that coyotes scavenge deer carcasses, the ability of disease to be translocated in feces, and the persistent nature of CWD, it therefore seems plausible that CWD could be disseminated in the same way as other diseases. Experiments by NWRC scientists have revealed that feces from crows, another common scavenger, fed scrapie-positive (another type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) material could transmit disease to transgenic mice. To test of the ability of coyotes to spread CWD in their feces after ingestion of CWD-positive material, an experiment using transgenic mice is underway. Feces were collected from coyotes before and three days after ingestion of a small amount of CWD-infected elk brain material. The collected feces were prepared for inoculation into a transgenic mouse model susceptible to CWD. Data from the study thus far supports the hypothesis that coyotes can disseminate CWD in their feces for several days after ingestion of CWD-positive material, participating in the distribution of CWD-infectious material throughout the environment.





CROWS



Crows fed on prion-infected brains from mice can transmit these infectious agents in their feces and may play a role in the geographic spread of diseases caused by prions, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD) or scrapie.

Crows fed on prion-infected brains from mice can transmit these infectious agents in their feces and may play a role in the geographic spread of diseases caused by prions, such as chronic wasting disease (CWD) or scrapie.



The new research published Oct. 17 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Kurt VerCauteren from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other colleagues, shows that prions can pass through crows’ digestive systems without being destroyed, and may be excreted intact after ingestion by the birds. According to the authors, their results demonstrate a potential role for the common crow in the spread of infectious diseases caused by prions.



Prions are infectious proteins that cause diseases in humans and other animals. Studies so far have suggested that insects, poultry, and scavengers like crows may be passive carriers of infectious prions, but this is the first demonstration that prions can retain their ability to cause disease after passing through the avian digestive system.



The authors fed crows with brain samples from mice infected with prions, and found that the crows passed infectious prions up to 4 hours after eating the infected samples. When healthy mice were injected with the infected crow excretions, all the mice showed signs of prion disease. The authors state that their results support the possibility that crows that encounter infected carcasses or consume infected tissue may have the capacity to transport infectious prions to new locations.

Kurt, In Rushford Minnesota the DNR has a eagle feeding operation outside of town. In the winter months they retrieve road killed deer and spread them around the field. I have seen as many as 100 eagles there at one time. I asked the head of the DNR [deer division] if they were testing these road killed deer for CWD. They said no, why would they do that? These, he said, where local deer. Since this town is only about 25 miles east of the Mississippi River [Wisconsin], these eagles range out from the river. I have seen these eagles as far as 60 miles west of the river, so I imagine they range just as far east into Wisconsin [CWD zone]. I have read your crow tests before, and I couldn't imagine the DNR wouldn't be interested in this. This spring we are going to double fence our breeding operation, mainly to just relieve some stress. But last summer I saw several eagles sitting on the top of my posts, several different days. I suppose they were looking for dead fawns. Will my double fence even work. Do we need to put netting over the top of our pens next?

Gary

Good one Charlie, you hit the nail right on the head.



Kurt, thanks for the information about the crows.



We are going to need all the information we can get.



Mick

Goodman's Whitetail Haven

Thanks Kurt. Good info.



For anyone who is going to get involved in lobbying for abatement actions, CWD should not be compared to EHD. I'll say it again, raising a negative point to try to sell a positive one, only raises the negative.



CWD is a prion disease, not a virus. CWD is not close to reaching its critical mass potential, nor is it clear if it will jump species in the way other prion diseases have. CWD does not just spontainiously appear,nor is it "everywhere". There is going to be many routes of infection & playing one stakeholder off againt another,just gives this disease more time. Stay informed.



Sharkey

If the gov gave a crap about species jumping then they would actually do REAL research and use REAL science in the process. But they DON'T! Why not? Because the science does not further their biased cause. Until you come over here to the States and become informed about the reality of how the gov agencies act and react to CWD you can't speak with any knowledge on the subject. CWD has been a windfall to the WI DNR and to the WI DATCP. Just days prior to CWD being "discovered" in WI over 80 DNR employees had been given their pink slips. The day after CWD was "discovered" in WI EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM KEPT THEIR JOBS, AND DOZENS MORE WERE HIRED! Then as part of their "CWD plan" dozens of family members and friends of DNR agents became "qualified sharp shooters" and paid to sit over bait piles at night to try and shoot every deer in the CWD zone. The DNR used the CWD scare to implement dozens of new laws against hunters that they wanted to implement for years. Funny how things work out isn't it??? Then when they realized their scare tactics were going to impact hunting permit sales they backed off some of their previous statements in an effort to up permit sales. An entire book of how the DNR and DATCP manipulated CWD to their own fortune could be written, and not one time would you find them actually giving a **** about species jumping or real science.

Sharkey, I have talked to some pretty knowledgable people that feel CWD can occur spontaniously.

Gary

Rodger I can speak & ask questions about the science without being "Over There". Have you looked at the risk assessment on CWD from other countries. Some pretty good info for actual risk & abatement measures.



Who would have thought the UK could have kept human deaths below 200 twenty years ago when Mad Cow hit the headlines? Yes CWD is different because its in wildlife, still it was "accurate" decisive action which managed the disease.



I would suggest you play the ball/CWD & not the various players no matter what is said or done to distract you from this. Accurate & honest info! Not emotional statements.



"He does protest, too much me thinks?" Will be the thouht of Mr & Mrs Average if any particular stakeholder takes their gaze off CWD to attack another,with an emotional rant. Play the ball please! QDMA lost a lot of credability last year.



Don't write a book. Do however collect your thoughts & write down what you've stated. Not personal or emotional, just the issues. If you do that & are prepared to back it, you may get some leverage.



Cheers Sharkey

G O Whitetails.

Prions are protiens which have been "enduced" by other through "contact" to change shape.



CWD must be transported & then come into contact with other protiens. To say its spontanious has no support. Its like saying your computer caught a virus from the net,when its never been connected.



There are many carriers/vectors.

Prions have laid dormant for over twenty years to reinfect animals restocked on infected pasture.



Sharkey

BSE [mad cow] prions have been proved to occur spontaneously. Why not CWD prions?

Gary

sharkey said:

Thanks Kurt. Good info.





CWD is a prion disease, not a virus. CWD is not close to reaching its critical mass potential, nor is it clear if it will jump species in the way other prion diseases have. CWD does not just spontainiously appear,nor is it "everywhere". There is going to be many routes of infection & playing one stakeholder off againt another,just gives this disease more time. Stay informed.



Sharkey

Click to expand...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3199251/



Could the spontaneity of cwd throughout the country be related in someways to the presence of scrapie or areas that had sheep herds that were identified to have scrapie?? I found this paper, and what I get out of it is that strains of scrapie can be contracted by deer, and that their is little difference in the symptoms when compared to "cwd". Could deer possibly contract strains of scrapie and because it is found in deer, it is called cwd? I found in another paper that there were over 900 herds of sheep throughout the country that had scrapie in their animals (paper was from the 90's..ill try to find it again), but cannot find anything that shows where these herds were/are. Also, does anyone know of any other research done on more natural modes of transmisson of scrapie to deer that have been done? I dont mean to ramble but I think this just continues to show the many possible modes of "movement" of cwd.