Light microscopic and transmission and scanning electron microscopic observations were performed on the aortas of two 4- and 6-year-old deer affected with cervine ataxia and two 6-month- and 4-year-old healthy deer. Examination of the aortas from affected deer by transmission electron microscopy revealed the absence of distinct elastic laminae in the internal elastic lamina and tunica media, bu...

1. The effect of yohimbine (Y) on blood levels of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), and cortisol was investigated in 5 mature male white-tailed deer immobilized with xylazine hydrochloride (X). 2. T4 levels were erratic in X-treated deer, but stabilized in the X- and Y-treated deer. 3. T3 remained unchanged in both groups. 4. Cortisol levels have increased in X-treated deer, but declined i...

Research on predator control in deer management in South Texas is reviewed. Research falls into 2 categories: (1) studies of the scat of predators or cause of death attributed to recently-dead deer carcasses, and (2) predator (all coyote) removal studies. Mountain lions (Felis concolor) and bobcats (F. rufus) do not appear to be important predators in most South Texas deer populations. Coyotes ...

We studied the home ranges and activity patterns of 24 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in southwestern Wisconsin via radio-telemetry and visual observation to determine their response to single-strand electric crop-protection fences. Deer were allowed to establish feeding patterns in alfalfa fields during the spring green-up periods of 1986 and 1987. In mid-April of each year, 7 fenc...

Between November 2000 and November 2005, approximately 200 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from western Nebraska were extensively examined for the presence of Elaeophora schneideri, Wehr and Dikmans, 1935; three adult E. schneideri were detected from three mule deer. This represents the first documented occurrence of E. schneideri from wil...

Key to understanding the epidemiology and pathogenesis of prion diseases, including chronic wasting disease (CWD) of cervids, is determining the mode of transmission from one individual to another. We have previously reported that saliva and blood from CWD-infected deer contain sufficient infectious prions to transmit disease upon passage into naïve deer. Here we again use bioassays in deer to ...

We compared white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virctinianus) use of 15 field corn (Zea mays) hybrids grown in food plots near 3 deer wintering areas in southwestern Minnesota, 1987-88. Physical and morphological characteristics of corn varied significantly among sites, subplots and among hybrids. Deer use of hybrids was significantly different and 5 use groups of hybrids were identified. A significa...

In New Zealand, wild deer and feral pigs are assumed to be spillover hosts for Mycobacterium bovis, and so are not targeted in efforts aimed at locally eradicating bovine tuberculosis (TB) from possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), the main wildlife host. Here we review the epidemiology of TB in deer and pigs, and assess whether New Zealand's TB management programme could be undermined if these spec...

Bovine tuberculosis, caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, is a re-emerging zoonotic disease. It has staged a comeback by establishing infections in wildlife and cattle, creating the potential for human disease in locations where it was thought to be under control. In northwestern Minnesota, infected cattle and white-tailed deer were first discovered in 2005. A major bovine tuberculosis...

BACKGROUND Understanding the distribution of disease in wildlife is key to predicting the impact of emerging zoonotic one health concerns, especially for wildlife species with extensive human and livestock interfaces. The widespread distribution and complex interactions of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with humans suggest deer population health and management may have implications ...