No one has laid claim to a herd of fallow deer in Nobleboro that Code Enforcement Officer Stanley Waltz said has been seen in a field on East Pond Road not far from the James Maxmin’s farm.
The herd was the topic of a Sept. 13 online blog posted by former Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine director George Smith.
Maxmin said the herd was “some distance” from his farm. “If they were nearer, we’d have some chance to catch them.”
He said the situation began several weeks ago, when a man stopped by the farm to say he had seen someone stealing Maxmin’s deer. Maxmin raises fallow deer to be sold as venison.
“He said he saw an old green Tacoma truck with wooden slats across the back and a trailer,” Maxmin said Sept. 18. “You can’t steal them. They’re wild animals and won’t go in a trailer. Besides, they’re penned.” He said his animals are contained and that he has kept an accurate inventory of the population of his herd.
State Veterinarian Beth McEvoy said Maine licenses deer farms. She said annual inspections include an inventory that includes documentation of where any deer has gone that is no longer on the farm.
“I started last year with 31 mature animals,” Maxmin said. He said he bred 14 fawns, of which two were stillborn and one escaped.
“Somebody broke into the pens to try to get antlers on Memorial Day,” Maxmin said. He said that animal was killed, possibly by a car, and that he had seen the dead fawn.
“Our count was accurate, yet there were stories of 12 to 15 deer running around.” Maxmin said he thought the stray herd was dropped off near his farm. “Apparently there are a lot of farms that are not registered. Feed has gone up.”
Maxmin said his facility is licensed and has liability insurance to cover escaped animals, but he has not claimed any missing deer.
“Fallow deer is one of several different species cervid (the family of hoofed mammals that includes the deer and elk),” State Deer Biologist Lee Kantar said. “You look across all of Maine and there are people that own domestic deer farms.” He said the red, fallow and Sika deer are not native to the state and can cause problems if let loose on the land.
Kantar said domestic deer fall under the jurisdiction of the Dept. of Agriculture but, unlike dairy cows, their similarity to native whitetail deer creates a potential for the transfer of disease between the deer types.
McEvoy said the major concern with domestic cervid herds is chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease found in deer, elk and moose. CWD belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases.
The disease attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose, causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal and uncoordinated behavior, and eventually die. To date, CWD has been found primarily in the Midwest, but cases have been reported as far east as central New York State.
“It’s already occurring in other states, but not yet in Maine,” McEvoy said. “We’re trying to keep it out. White-tailed deer don’t travel around as much as captive cervids. They may cross state lines, but they don’t go to Michigan.”
“These are domestic animals,” Kantar said. “We don’t allow domestic animals, especially livestock, to go wherever they want in the state.” He said farmers are responsible for maintaining fences and other ways to contain the animals that are their property.
“We certainly didn’t lose 50 percent of our herd,” Maxmin said. He said two or three bucks in the stray herd have antlers.
“They can’t get under the fence with antlers,” he said. He said the largest doe in the group is all brown, indicating that a fallow deer was bred with a New Zealand deer. “We’ve never had anything like that.”
“Mr. Maxmin has his own theories,” McEvoy said. “I am in no position to judge where they came from.”
She said whether the deer originated on the Maxmin farm or not, “That’s water over the dam. If Mr. Maxmin says they are not his, I can condemn them. They are captive cervids that have been at large. If they’re not owned, they belong to the state.”
McEvoy said her department is charged with protecting Maine’s native white-tailed deer population. She said the state has a contract with U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Wildlife Services under which trained personnel would trap and euthanize the deer herd.
“The meat will go to Hunters for the Hungry, but first they have to test negative for chronic wasting disease.” She said the deer would be slaughtered, hung and set aside until tests for the disease are completed.
McEvoy said she was waiting to receive a written statement from Maxmin, verifying that the deer are not his.
“We’d like to get them trapped and captured and euthanized as soon as possible,” McEvoy said.
“We feel dreadful,” Maxmin said.
