As they have for several years, the Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife cautions hunters against the use of natural-urine-based lures.
In an effort to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) to Maine’s deer and moose herds, the department strongly recommends that all hunters use synthetic lures or take care to ensure that lures are not placed in an area where deer can reach them.
CWD is a fatal illness affecting deer, moose, elk and other cervids. It is widespread in many western states and has been found as far east as New York. Researchers say the disease originated in captive deer herds, but spreads easily though wild populations as well.
With Maine’s deer herds already in decline due to habitat loss, increased natural predation and several severe winters in recent years, it is as important as ever to prevent the spread of a costly and damaging disease to Maine’s deer and moose populations, managers say.
CWD is closely related to mad cow disease and an infection in humans called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. In all three cases, the brain tissue of those infected becomes spongy and full of holes. The disease is incurable and inevitably fatal.
Biologists believe that natural urine in lures may contribute to the spread of CWD when deer are able to ingest urine from the lures.
Although the transmission of CWD is not entirely understood, CWD is spread through an infectious protein called a prion. One of the most dangerous aspects of CWD is that prions are hearty and can survive for extended periods of time outside a host animal.
“When it first started appearing in penned deer, owners would clear out the pen,” said Lee Kantar, IF&W deer and moose biologist, “but healthy deer put in that pen would become infected.”
Prions are spread through contact with infected bodily fluid, fecal matter and consumption of tainted meat. CWD’s ability to survive for extended periods where infected deer have been makes it extremely dangerous to wild populations.
For many western states, CWD has proven impossible to eradicate. Some claim the disease has been eradicated in New York, Kantar said; it has been five years since there has been a confirmed case of CWD in New York.
“That’s encouraging,” Kantar said. “That maybe a state that catches this early enough can eradicate it completely.”
Many have raised concerns that urine-based lures, if placed where a deer might come in direct contact with the urine, could contribute to the spread of CWD. The urine used in lures is taken largely from captive deer in other states. Concerns arise because CWD originated in captive deer, and many deer farms are under regulated, biologists say.
Concerns have also been raised that renderings – animal parts – from cervids may be used in deer feed. In 1997, the federal government banned the use of renderings in cattle, sheep, goat and cervid feed, when mad cow disease garnered international attention.
IF&W has been studying CWD, testing Maine’s herds, and working to prevent the spread of CWD to Maine for about a decade; this spring, a resolution directing IF&W to study CWD and its relationship to urine-based lures and renderings in deer feed passed easily though both chambers and was signed by the governor.
The resolution, initiated by Rep. Deb Sanderson of Somerville, will serve to educate Maine lawmakers on the implications of CWD to the state’s already ailing deer herd. In early December, IF&W will present their study to the legislature, which has led some to speculate that a ban or other legal action regarding urine-based lures could follow.
David Trahan, Executive Director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said he hopes Maine’s hunters are willing to cooperate.
“If Maine had an outbreak of chronic wasting disease, it could devastate our deer herd,” Trahan said. “I think the department is acting responsibly, because I don’t think we can take a chance.”
Trahan said switching to synthetic lures is a “small sacrifice in the name of a healthy deer herd.”
