The Observation Deck

Charyn,

You make a great point. Some dogs are bred to hunt - and you can't get it out of them. Likewise my cat's butt was twitching - but he was smart enough to know that it wasn't like the ants he normally pounces on. My point was the deer was aware of dogs and cats in the neighborhood and wasn't too afraid. We have walked out of our house with the deer in the front yard and they haven't run - so they are much braver.

Joe,

This is fascinating. I thought Mad Cow disease was gotten from cows eating ground up other cows an artifical way to fatten them up. (A non scientific description). But now you say that deer can get it from eatting just grass? And the grass has been subjected to hazardous waste? Is this in the form of fertilizer? Infected water? Do we know how this is happening? Could it be happening to the vegetables we buy in the store?
I'm assuming that you are a biologist or something from your other posts. Can you explain in more layman's terms?

Thanks

Lynn,
I found out about this a few years ago. My nephew is a guide for elk hunters out west. He eats a lot of wild meats. I did some research with him. You can look up deer wasting syndrome. There is a ton of info out there. I am not sure there is an answer to how the deer got the disease, but in has been found in several parts of the country. It has been found in wild and domestic herds. Prions are weird as they can lay dormant in the host for years.

Lynn - long explanation in your PM.

(This goes way off topic)

Charyn

Joe Whisman wrote:Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy is on the way to a deer near you. There have been cases in near by states. It is like mad cow disease. It is caused by prions. While is is not a huge problem now, it could by in the near future. If it turns out to be like the bovine spongiform, humans could get the disease by consuming the meat.

Hasn't CWD been around since the 1980's?