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Ticks and CWD

I’m all for folks smarter than me working on figuring out the root issue. Some/most of the ideas likely won’t pan out, perhaps none will, but she doesn’t state anywhere that she knows how to fix the issue, just that she has some ideas that might be contributing and are worth looking at. I appreciate that approach.
 
Interesting research. I wonder if they will incorporate controlled burns in identified areas where they have positive testing for ticks and vegetation to see how that impacts things. Should reduce the ticks but no idea how it would impact vegetation. Would the prions in plants go back into the soil to be taken up again by new growth?
 
BTaylor said:
Interesting research. I wonder if they will incorporate controlled burns in identified areas where they have positive testing for ticks and vegetation to see how that impacts things. Should reduce the ticks but no idea how it would impact vegetation. Would the prions in plants go back into the soil to be taken up again by new growth?
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It is interesting. Rx fire definitely reduces tick populations for the first year or so, and in southern areas that see regular fire every 2-3 years ticks stay present in low numbers. However, Rx fire has been shown to not get hot enough to "kill" or "denature" CWD prions.
 
Pyronole said:
It is interesting. Rx fire definitely reduces tick populations for the first year or so, and in southern areas that see regular fire every 2-3 years ticks stay present in low numbers. However, Rx fire has been shown to not get hot enough to "kill" or "denature" CWD prions.
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Yep, knew Rx fire wouldnt kill it, just curious what the what the cycle would look like. Is there a lag time before it becomes present in vegetation again? If so how long? Is there a difference in which veg types it shows up in first? Those types of questions that might go a long ways towards pushing agencies to burn on a more consistent basis. Would be nice if the best available habitat management tool (fire) could also be used to lessen CWD risk through tick and vegetation control. Wishful thinking most likely though.
 
Before I make the following remarks, I want to say that I'm not a CWD alarmist. I live and hunt in an area that has had CWD for over 20 years--it's just a fact of life here.

My two main takeaways from that article have nothing to do with ticks. The part about the predators and scavengers harboring prions in their intestines and then depositing them with their scat is what interests me. If (IF) this is true, how far can a flock of migrating crows that fed off an infected carcass carry the prions? It seems no place would be safe from this source of infection, no matter what measures are taken (admittedly, no measures taken so far have done anything to reduce the spread).

My other thought is this: If predators and scavengers have the ability to spread CWD after eating prion-infected tissue, will states ban the practice of leaving boned-out carcasses/ deer parts in the woods?

I wonder where this research will lead.
 
CZMark said:
Before I make the following remarks, I want to say that I'm not a CWD alarmist. I live and hunt in an area that has had CWD for over 20 years--it's just a fact of life here.

My two main takeaways from that article have nothing to do with ticks. The part about the predators and scavengers harboring prions in their intestines and then depositing them with their scat is what interests me. If (IF) this is true, how far can a flock of migrating crows that fed off an infected carcass carry the prions? It seems no place would be safe from this source of infection, no matter what measures are taken (admittedly, no measures taken so far have done anything to reduce the spread).

My other thought is this: If predators and scavengers have the ability to spread CWD after eating prion-infected tissue, will states ban the practice of leaving boned-out carcasses/ deer parts in the woods?

I wonder where this research will lead.
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Ugh such an insidious disease, and a spooky inference you make here. As others mention above its resilience to heat really annoys me, like no weaknesses. Up until the past few weeks + your post had not considered higher speed longer traveling animals around the deer herd carrying it faster and farther but sure seems plausible.
 
CZMark said:
My other thought is this: If predators and scavengers have the ability to spread CWD after eating prion-infected tissue, will states ban the practice of leaving boned-out carcasses/ deer parts in the woods?
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So it's illegal to transport it from one area to another, but you can't leave it here either...
 
OSUTodd said:
So it's illegal to transport it from one area to another, but you can't leave it here either...
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In Wisconsin, we can leave nothing in the woods other than the guts. (This is not a CWD rule, it was a rule long before CWD entered the state.)

We can transport whole deer taken in a CWD area anywhere within that CWD area.

We can transport boned-out meat and skulls free of any brain or spinal tissue anywhere in the state.

We can transport whole deer out of a CWD area IF it is taken to a licensed meat processor.

We are asked to deposit carcasses in DNR provided dumpsters.

It all seems a little wonky, but them's the rules.
 
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