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There’s a gruesome infection that’s devastating the endangered Key deer in the Florida Keys.
It’s a malady that’s so deadly, and so morbid that it’s taking an emotional toll on residents and even the wildlife officers faced with the sorrowful task of euthanizing infected deer.
The Key deer, which number roughly 1,000, are being infected by screwworm maggots. The infection occurs when screwworm flies lay their eggs in any open woods on the deer, and the resulting maggots eat away at their flesh.
A little more than 100 Key deer have been euthanized due to screwworm infection, and residents, biologists and law enforcement officers have all been quoted in media reports about the emotional trauma the situation is causing.
“You can see it in their eyes that they’re trying to fight it,” a Florida biologist told the Miami Herald recently. “Normally, this time of year they’d be following scents [to find a mate] and instead they’re totally preoccupied by this thing in their head.”
People in the Florida Keys are gravely concerned for their deer.
We should share that same concern for the deer in Pennsylvania as they are also battling the early stages of a disease that could have major consequences.
Chronic Wasting Disease.
While CWD doesn’t result in deer literally being eaten alive, like the screwworm infection, it is just as gruesome. Similar to Mad Cow Disease, CWD attacks the brain, killing cells and tissue. Infected deer are thin, they drool and they stand listlessly as if they know death is imminent.
When it comes to wildlife management, it’s often best to leave emotions out of the mix.
But seeing a deer infected with Chronic Wasting Disease is, well, sad.
And disturbing.
The disease has been found in three areas of the state – mainly in the southcentral. Both wild and captive deer have turned up with CWD, and many wildlife officials I’ve spoken with say it’s only a matter of time before the disease spreads to other areas, including northeastern Pennsylvania.
Yet, surprisingly, CWD is seldom brought up by the public at Pennsylvania Game Commission board meetings and it almost seems that if CWD isn’t in your area, than the concern is non-existent.
It’s shouldn’t be that way. If there’s no concern, there is little vigilance. And if we aren’t paying attention, CWD can creep into a new area and spread before we even have time to react.
That’s why, in some cases, hunters and wildlife managers need to be a bit emotionally invested in what they do. That way we can be alarmed when something bad – like a disease, is turning up. We can be vigilant when we see a sick deer that needs to be investigated.
And just like the people in the Florida Keys are experiencing right now as they desperately try to save their endangered deer herd from a gruesome disease, it’s OK to be sad when we lose wildlife to disease.
It’s a feeling that both hunters, non-hunters and anyone that respects the resource can share.
After all, we are only human.