I Say C C CWD

Oh see what you have done done. CWD is a neurological disease that is limited to deer, elk, moose and other members of the deer family, known as "cervids." CWD is spread by animal-to-animal contact or by animal contact with soil that contains prions from urine, feces or the decomposition of an infected animal. Deer and other cervids with signs of CWD show changes in natural behavior and can exhibit extreme weight loss, excessive salivation, stumbling and tremors. CWD can spread through natural movements of infected animals, transportation of infected live captive animals, or the transportation of infected carcasses.
As you can see from the photo this disease is a heart breaker just like the focus of the song. This is why most of the 21 states it's found in are very cautious of the outcome if the disease takes hold. When 3 free ranging deer were found in Wisconsin, to have CWD, in 2003 the Mi DNR devised a plan to try and control any outbreak in our state. When a penned or ranch deer was found in Kent County in MI the plan was enforced and baiting was outlawed in the lower peninsula and restricted in the UP. So far, 7,999 deer statewide have tested free of chronic wasting disease, experts said. Testing was ordered after the fatal neurological disorder was found in that pen-raised deer. Experts collected deer heads from hunters to test for the disease. The collection was mandatory for any deer killed in a nine-township surveillance area adjacent to Algoma Township. Throughout the rest of the state, giving up deer heads was voluntary, though officials had a goal of 300 from each county touching Kent.
CWD monitoring has cost the state about $960,000 in 2008. Deer killed in the nine- township Kent County surveillance zone will continue to be tested through the end of the year, when bowhunting ends.
The money for testing comes from several sources, including:
• $1.8 million from taxpayers in a general fund appropriation to the DNR for wildlife disease work.
• $75,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture for CWD work.
• $500,000 from the Michigan Game & Fish Fund, which is supported by hunters and anglers through license fees and federal surcharges on outdoor equipment. Processing and testing deer heads for CWD costs almost $120 per deer, Schmitt said. Expenses include testing by Michigan State University, collecting and transporting the heads, incineration and public outreach.
So now after 5 years with no cases of CWD found we have baiting back. All the Elmer Fudd hunters are happy again. Deer hunting is quite different for different people in different places and lifestyles. Most of the hunters I know bait to try to see more deer. They hunt less than a week a year and the bait gives them a warm fuzzy feeling but not much else. The bait needs to be out for quite a while longer for deer to come to the bait on a regular basis. None of the baiters I know of take the bait out of the woods after thier 3-4 day stint so the bait stays there and allows deer to find it and congregate around it causing body contact and exchange of fluids from sneezing on each other. So the ban on baiting was used in the NE Lower Peninsula to control Bovine TB, another devestating disease that could wipe out the herd. The baiting ban, however, really had little effect on CWD so why was it used? CWD is passed on through prions which are on the ground, deposited trough urine or feces. So prions could be on the bait, but the use of food plots and standing crops, which are more prevelant, also produce the same effect. Maybe it's something that another state has done.
No, sorry, you'll have to come up with your own opinion on why Michigan stopped baiting. Other states have CWD problems but haven't had the same knee jerk reaction we have had. The impetus of this article was a report from Missouri that they had 2 free ranging deer tested positive for CWD. Kathy Etling, a famous outdoor writer, covered the story in the St. Louis paper. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) received two positive test results for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from 1,077 tissue samples taken from free-ranging deer harvested by hunters in north-central Missouri during the 2011 fall firearms deer season. Both positive test results were from adult bucks harvested by Missouri hunters in Macon County, and are the first CWD-positive results for free-ranging deer in Missouri. Two years ago the state had a scare with a deer ranch. Agents of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made an indemnification offer to Rob Brasher, who is the owner of Heartland Wildlife Ranches in Ethel, Mo., to cover the costs of destroying the remainder of the whitetail deer and red elk now inhabiting the high-fenced pasture where last fall a single CWD-positive whitetail buck was found. Heartland Wildlife Ranch is located in Linn County in the heart of Missouri's big buck country. The ranch is not double fenced since Missouri law does not require it, so wild whitetails can easily contact animals inside, some of which may now be infected with CWD.
According to Tim Ripperger of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Brasher turned down the USDA's indemnification offer. Sources have stated off the record that officials with the USDA are planning to make further adjustments to the offer in hopes that the next amount will be more acceptable.
The CWD-infected whitetail, an animal which had spent its entire life at Heartland Wildlife Ranches, died last fall. The pasture inhabited by the buck prior to its death is near Buckland, Mo. No red flags, supposedly, were waved at the time of the buck's death but when its tissue was later tested as part of the state's voluntary CWD surveillance program — believe it or not only a small percentage of deer and elk who die or are killed in any Missouri high-fenced area are tested for CWD — it was determined that the buck had CWD. For how long was anybody's guess.
The CWD-infected whitetail had been living in the 800-acre, high-fenced pasture together with about 50 other whitetail deer and about 150 red elk. Since CWD is an infectious disease of cervids — whitetails, mule deer, elk and moose — it is very likely that other animals have already been exposed to the infectious prions. Scientists believe CWD is transmitted through urine and feces and possibly other bodily fluids such as saliva.
The buck died in the fall. Soon afterward the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA), which has jurisdiction over high-fenced shooting operations like Heartland's, ordered the removal and testing of 50 additional animals from the pasture in which the infected buck had been living and 20 animals from another of Heartland's pastures. All tested negative for CWD.
In mid-March employees of the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), together with a team of sharpshooters and landowners, culled 150 wild whitetails within a 5-mile radius of Heartland. Tissue from those 150 deer, three additional road-killed deer and 72 deer which had been shot during the 2009 hunting season was also tested. All tested negative for CWD. I count 300, 70 ranched deer and 222 free ranging, deer tested.
Now Maryland has discovered a CWD deer on 2/10/2011 after intensive testing for 10 years. We have tested intensively for this disease and see this as an unfortunate but somewhat inevitable outcome. Hurray! One out of 6800 deer tested.
So it seems every state is excited to welcome this disease. Eager to stop it's spread before any other state can. Huh? All the info is very reachable on a search, I'm not making anything up but just touching the surface. Look up CWD in Wiscinsin, Missouri, Maryland and Michigan. Now the discouraging part. What's it cost for all of this testing? Well $1 mil in 2008 in Michigan @ $120/test, $65 in Wisconsin / test and $17 / test in Colorado, the first state to discover CWD. Why so cheap in Coloradao? Well they were the first state and if you donate a deer for the community food bank the deer has to be tested. Go figure.
Who pays for all this testing? You and me partner. The Federal budget has included up to $13.9 mil per year up to 2011. For 2012 the alotted budget is $1.9 mil, look for the caution and the ammount of testing to go way down here on in.

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Michigan Muskie Show

MBT Expo Center in Monroe Mi.

Admission
Kids 15-Under – $5.00
Adults – $10.00
Three Day Pass - $20.00

http://www.michiganmuskieshow.com/

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Seek a Paradise, look about you

A few months ago Warren Riggen passed away. You may have read about him in the News Herald years back. He was retired in his 70s and still trapping at Point Moullie State Refuge. He was born in Arkansas, fought in WWII including Omaha beach and then came to Detroit for a job in the automotive industry.
In his free time Warren loved to trap and Point Moullie was a favorite stop. He trapped muskrat, mink and coon. He became a mink trapping expert and had even trained DNR CO's in the finer points of trapping mink. In his full life long journey you could say Warren found paradise at Point Moullie.
Now there are about a dozen other trappers still plying their trade in Warren's old classroom and they still catch many muskrat and mink. This helps keep the dykes safe and helping control the vegetation which helps the ducks in the fall migrations. At one time 13,000 muskrats were trapped in one year but those numbers are way down now. Still there a lot of opportunities for catches at Point Moullie. Now for a different opportunity.
The opportunity came with a $284,477 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant acquired by Ducks Unlimited in partnership with the DNR in 2011. The 66-acre Dusseau tract is being converted to 38 acres of productive emergent wetlands and 28 acres of high-quality lake plain prairie grassland over the next two years.
DNR biologist Joe Robison recognizes the critical role partnerships like this one play in accomplishing conservation goals that benefit native species. "We've seen a decline in hunting license sales in recent years, the proceeds of which go directly back to species management projects on our State Game Areas. Partners like Ducks Unlimited, with their wetland restoration expertise and aid in grant-seeking opportunities, make a big difference in what habitat improvement work we are able to do on our State Game Areas."
Whatever we can do to keep paradise alive.

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Mickey Z

After talking to Redcan on Super Bowl Sunday about how he and his buddies almost blew up Riverview. This winter blast, has reminded me of an article written by the former outdoor writer for the News Herald, Mike Zelinski. Mike was quite the outdoorsman and a fluent talker which was a perfect combo for his News Herald position. Mike could come up with 2 articles at the mention of any outdoor pursuit. The article that the cold front reminded me of was late season goose hunting on the Detroit River. Emphasis on late here, this year the season lasted until January 29th. There was good weather this year and from the sounds of shooting the hunters had plenty of action. You have to be a die hard to hunt in the conditions Mike wrote about.
Holy cow, as you can see from the picture the boys are just south of Sugar Island. That's not just a hop skip and a jump from Gibraltar, where Mike lived, but a white knuckled boat ride. These waterfowlers are a little different. I've been in a boat late in February on the river and even if everything goes right and ice flows aren't encountered there's always that uneasy feeling about getting locked in ice. Mike wrote well about the whole experience especially about safety in the case anything bad may happen. From the set up of decoys to the blind set up or just dressing in the white camo and laying on the ice somehow Mike made it sound like anyone could do it.
On the day Mike reported on there must have been a warmer front move in because a heavy fog surrounded them and they could hear the birds flying but couldn't see them until they had committed and were very close. So add another chance for disaster, a 20 pound bird flying in fog coming in to your calling and just being able to see a landing spot seconds before landing. A slight miscalculation by the bird and you could become an episode on Mythbusters. Oh those wildfowlers, a little different and die hards just like Mickey.

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Happy Super Bowl/ Start of 2012 fishing season on the Detroit River Day

Go Tom Brady. It's hard to pick from these 2 teams but Brady is a MI man so let's go with the Pats. Hopefully a close game with action on some squares is in your future. The super bowl comes every year at about the same time just like taxes. This year however is special because of the weather.

The first day of the 2012 fishing season in the Detroit River? From the reports I'm getting the fish are biting. Well biting as hard as they can in 37 degree water. But the fish are there and willing if you can find them and you can find them in your boat this year because of the weather we've had. It may still get cold for a while but ice formation should be held back allowing boat fishing in the river for the rest of winter.
Some parts of the river always freeze allowing icefishing, like Airport Bay on he south end of Grs Isle, but the big problem for river fishing by boat is the ice flows coming down from Lake St. Clair. I'm sure there'll be so ice coming down like Car fixer John found out last week heading over to Duffy's in Amherstburg, Canada. His group got thru the hole in the wall but couldn't get to Duffy's because of an ice flow dam.
So be carefull out there and call your local bait shop for reports, that's all the papers do. You can get all the numbers in my bait shop link. The other link is MI-sportsman.com, near the bottom, check this site for the river forum. GT Charters is catching perch on their outings and some reports from the river state they're catching walleyes. Hopefully a long season for walleye fishing in the river is in order following last spring's horibble waether and low catch rate.

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WWD Day

Not a World War or a new Wrestling organization but a day to celebrate. Ground hog's day and Lucy's birthday are now sharing February 2nd with the World Wetlands Day. Not to associate wetlands with ground hogs or any other mammal, especially in the everglades where the populations of mammals have decreased by 90% because of the introduction of snakes like the Burmese python. Documented cases of 75 pound deer and 6 foot long aligators are some of their larger prey.
Since its inception in 1997, World Wetlands Day has been observed worldwide each year on February 2nd in recognition of the date the international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands was signed at the Ramsar Convention in 1971. The Ramsar Convention maintains a list of wetlands across the globe that have been deemed worthy of international importance; a list totaling nearly 2,000 sites.
In many ways, the commemoration of such a monumental event is an appropriate thing to do here in Michigan, a state that, in many ways, is defined by its environment and natural resources. The designation of Humbug Marsh, a unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, as Michigan’s only “Wetland of International Importance” in 2010 makes the decision to commemorate the holiday locally even more fitting.
The 3rd Annual celebration of World Wetlands Day will take place on Thursday, February 2nd at Gibraltar Carlson High School from 8:30am to 3:00pm. The event will feature a Wetlands Exposition that will showcase over 20 displays dedicated to wetland conservation from a number of environmental organizations. In addition, students and visitors will be treated to a World Wetlands Day program, slated to begin at 12:30pm, which will include an appearance by U.S. National Ramsar Committee Chairperson, Suzanne Pittenger-Slear. In addition, Monroe Power Plant Manager Brian Rice will speak on behalf of DTE Energy, Kathy Klein will speak in representation of Waste Management, and special guest, Humbug Marsha, will make her public debut and share wetland adventures with program participants. A short celebration for the Refuge’s 10th birthday with the National Wildlife Refuge System mascot Puddles the Blue Goose will follow. The World Wetlands Day event will be open to the public from 12:30pm – 3:00pm

Puddles

The World Wetlands Day Celebration is sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, Gibraltar Carlson High School, DTE Energy, Waste Management, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. This event is subject to cancellation in the event of inclement weather. If necessary, the alternate weather date is Feb. 9. Please contact Gibralter Carlson HS Principal Bill Stevenson for event status at 734.379.7100.

Digi what?

A good friend of mine is an avid birder. He is so involved he's considered an expert by many. Jerry Jourdan. His web site info is in my links page, or go to http://jerryjourdan.blogspot.com/. He's a photography expert both for work and for pleasure. His passion for bird photography has caused him to pursue the art of digiscoping, or photographing birds through a spotting scope using a point & shoot camera, and an adaptor to connect the camera to the scope. This new technology has enabled him and other birders to get involved in a previously expensive pursuit. The cost of cameras, lenses, film (old style) and assorted other equipment used for taking pictures of birds, even common ones, is very prohibitive for many people to consider for a hobby. One could easily spend $10K to $20K for camera equipment, and still have to call in the bird, or get lucky to get close enough then wait for a perfect shot. Sometimes this can be more torture than hobby.

Digiscoping allows Jerry to get much higher magnification images, is much less costly and gives more range so as not to alarm the bird. With any new endeavor there are many problems to deal with but the birders are finding out how to do this and sharing their info. His other blog is devoted just on this topic: "the how's and why's of digiscoping" - http://jerryjourdan2.blogspot.com/. Check out his sites and you may catch the bug yourself, I know I have. I just bought an adapter from Cabela's to get me started and maybe I'll be able to get pics like this...

From 2011-12-31

Just like Jerry.

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Hot Time at Snow Daze

With Daisy hot footing it with the dulcimers at Lake Erie Metro Park it was a perfect ending to the day.

Dulcimer Daisey

The dog sledding was a hit, thank you Hiekkie Lunta, and if you'd like to try it contact Becky at trailboss29@yahoo.com. During times like these you may get a ride on a go cart behind the dogs but if there's enough snow a sled will be in order.
Mike the wood carver was there carving fish decoy bodies. He does a lot of other carving and the signs were very nice. He's in Taylor and you can call him at 734-442-4134
Mary Spun a Little Lamb was there showing how to spin yarn and make rope all from her pet rabbit. Yeah it was a little hairy but the rug she made was from recycled t-shirts. Contact her at meslonie@hotmail.com, 734-243-2852
Jerry did his yearly ice carving.

;

Snow snakes were thrown.
The Huron River Fishing Association was there tying flies and teaching others to do so.
The Ford Astronomers were there as well as Dan Hovater the flint knapping expert.
Along with the displays from the nature center they also had crafts which were over the top. Making a snow snake pillow, painting a chickadee face and dressing up a muskrat. A very busy day.

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Elk on Hoof

A local hunter recently bagged the elk of a lifetime. It wasn't a record breaker but it was collected in Michigan and that usually means one and done. Especially since his dad has already been drawn for an elk a few years back what are the odds of that? The way Ron hunted was also unique in that he was guided on horseback to find the prey.
You may have seen Ron on his hunt on the Michigan Out of Doors TV show a few weeks back. That show has gotten a lot better this year, I've really enjoyed their content. The show was more about the outfitter and the fact he took out 3 hunters on his horses to find elk. Find elk they did but connecting had some problems. Even Ron had a problem racking shells for a follow up shot. His first shot was true however and he collected a nice cow right next to an access road. The elk was on a knoll and when a truck backed up to it the cow almost slid into the bed by itself.
So it was a great hunt all around and one that may not be offered again. It seems that the MDNR wants to charge Vern a lot more for a guide license and make sure he carries many hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance in order to keep such license. There aren't enough hunting opportunities or hunters to help pay these fees so like many other unique things to do hunting elk by horse may pass by us like a ship in the night.
Vern Bishop, Ray Andres and Ron

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Snow/No Snow Daze

Hiekki Lunta

This was to be a big weekend at Lake Erie Metropark but old man winter isn't cooperating. A lot of the activities are geared toward winter temperatures having been here for a while. The main casualty has been the ice fishing demo, no ice no demo. I was really looking forward to that, Bill from Bottom Line really likes to cater to the kids and enjoys it more than the kids when they catch fish.
All other activities are still a go and should be lots of fun. The weekend is geared to traditional and non-traditional winter activities, including snowsnake and atlatl throwing, Tundra swan watching, flintknapping and fly tying. Short programs will be held both days on winter animals, tundra swans, ice age animals and winter bird feeding. The Ford Amateur Astronomy Club will present an indoor winter starwatching program at 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by observing the sky through powerful telescopes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. A bonfire will help keep everyone warm between stargazing sessions.
Jerry is busy carving his ice sculpture so you'll want to see that and to help the dogs run more comfortably we'll need more snow so I want everyone to join me in evoking Heikki Lunta, the Finnish snow god, to let it snow. Heikki Lunta, Heikki Lunta, Heikki Lunta, Lunta, Lunta, Heikki Lunta, Heikki Lunta, Heikki Lunta, Lunta, Lunta, repeat refrain for as long as you can stand it. Hopefully this will bring snow for the weekend.

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