News
Unconfirmed bovine TB remains a concern
Email this story | Print this story
Thursday, February 14, 2008 10:04 AM EST
Argus-Press Photo by Anthony Cepak Richard Smith poses with several bucks he shot on his property in Perry Township. Smith and his family practice quality deer management on their property and are worried a positive case of bovine tuberculosis would put their herd in jeopardy.
PERRY TWP. - Richard Smith is worried years of hard work and a sport he loves could be in jeopardy.
After hearing a doe shot in the county is suspected of carrying bovine tuberculosis, Smith said his family's quality deer management practices might have been all for nothing.
“I have a lot of years and money wrapped up in what we created, and I'm sure it's all going to go south,” Smith said.
At the end of December, a 1 1/2-year-old doe was shot in Bennington Township. The Department of Natural Resources was contacted and testing was started after the hunter noticed white nodules on the deer's lung cavity.
Along with confirming if it's a case of bovine TB, testing will also be conducted to see if the deer originated in the area or migrated from areas in northeastern Michigan known for having the disease. Results are expected by the end of the month or early March.
The infectious disease is a cause of concern for local producers and hunters because it can be transmitted between cattle and deer through nose to nose contact and sharing feed and water. Infected deer are known to be in Alpena, Alcona, Montmorency, Oscoda and Presque Isle counties. Last year two TB-positive deer were found in Iosco County.
As avid hunters, Smith and his family started practicing quality deer management about a decade ago. The philosophy is to create biologically and socially balanced herds.
“It's just the pleasure that you get to watch the deer progress and if you do it right you get to reap the rewards from letting the smaller immature bucks progress,” he said, adding they don't shoot bucks until they are at least 3 1/2 years old. “It's not about big bucks, but it's about a well-balanced deer herd.”
Different crops are planted for the animals in feed plots and areas are designated as safe havens. By keeping humans off certain acres, Smith said the herd feels more secure and is more likely to remain on the property.
About 155 acres owned by Smith, his son and a neighbor are currently under the management practices.
Having experienced the effects of a TB-positive deer population on his property in Montmorency County, Smith said he's concerned. Previously doing all of his hunting in the northern county, he started purchasing land in Morrice when the population dwindled.
“It's pretty scary...it's going to happen just like it did up (north),” Smith said.
The state has been working to wipe out the disease since the early 1990s. Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Project Coordinator Matt Ankeny said different strategies have been implemented in both the deer and cattle populations.
Licenses are being distributed to hunters in greater quantities to reduce numbers because “it's a density-dependent disease,” Ankeny said.
Since 1995, the deer population in the five counties known to have TB has decreased by nearly 50 percent, Ankeny said. Originally the area was over-populated.
Feeding and bating is also banned in the northeast counties to reduce transmission.
To control the spread of infection in cattle, herds are tested if they could have been exposed, and “depopulated” if found positive. Producers are reimbursed at market price if they lose their herd, Ankeny said.
The movement of an infected herd is also traced so animals that it may have come in contact with can be tested. Within known TB zones movement of cattle is also restricted and requires permits.
When testing first started in the core northeast TB zone, about 5 percent of the deer were TB positive, and in 2006 the number had decreased to 2.3 percent.
If the Bennington Township doe is confirmed to be infected, Ankeny said it doesn't mean the same strategies will be taken in Shiawassee County.
With the potential effects on cattle, beef and dairy producers are anxious over the potential case.
Michigan Milk Producers Association President Ken Nobis said if it's a confirmed case, every herd within a 10-mile radius of where the deer was killed will have to be tested.
The industry is concerned a positive case in the county would restrict movement of cattle and heavily impact it economically, Nobis said.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture has already started working to schedule testing with the 100 producers within the area. If the deer is not TB-positive, testing will not occur.
While testing to see if it's a positive case, Michigan Farm Bureau Dairy and Livestock Specialist Ernie Birchmeier said tests will also be run to determine what strain of TB it is and how it got to Shiawassee County.
While it's not certain if the doe was infected with TB, Birchmeier said producers can work to protect their herds by keeping cattle and deer separated and contacting the Department of Natural Resources if they think they have an overpopulation problem.
He also recommends the hunting and cattle industries work together through the situation.
“We can't be pointing fingersŠthe bottom line is if this is a confirmed positive case we need to work positively and walk forward together on this, and realize it's a situation that needs to be tackled from all angles,” he said.
Duane wrote on Feb 16, 2008 8:50 AM:
My father owned pastures up in Alcona county back when the cattle that came from Colorado with TB back in the 70's. TB has been around in the cattle herds and deer herds for many yrs. I have noticed a great decline in the deer herd now in Oscoda county where I hunt now it is getting as bad as it was when I left Alcona county 7 yrs ago. This year my son and I went back to my old hunting area and hunted a few days 7yrs ago you could find a deer in the area this is the first time I hunted the area and I was glad to see the herd is coming back. I don't think knocking out the herds is the answer TB has been around for many yrs. In my 32 yrs of hunting in those counties as well as my brother we have harvested 60 plus deer and we have never ran into a sick deer. I really don't think that doe would travel 170 miles south. Deer don't travel those distances if it is infected I would start checking the cattle in the area first more than likely it came from the cattle not a Northeastren deer.Since that is how the TB got started in those 5 counties from out of state cattle.I hope this doesn't turn into another wipeout of the deer herd. I do believe that baiting should not be allowed anywhere. I don't believe in baiting,I nor my brother has ever baited and we have taken many deer.I think baiting deer is part of the TB spreading problem and it should be STOPPED state wide.I don't feel baiting is very sportsman like to begin with. Learn your area and your deer movement in the area you hunt and you will be successful without putting food out. I hope some day the DNR will realize this and band all baiting in Michigan completely.
"