An Assessment of the Potential for Controlling Endoparasitism in White-Tailed Deer Via Drugs Incorporated in Bait
File(s)
Date
1976-08Author
Weinstein, Charles E.
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, College of Natural Resources
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The prevalence of endoparasites in a central Wisconsin population
of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was determined by fecal
examination and necropsy techniques from July 1975 to June 1976. Deer
were infected with stomach worms, Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylusaxei, and Ostertagia sp.; the menigeal worm, Parelaphostrongylus tenuis; lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparus; capillary worm, Capillaria sp.; whipworm,
Trichuris ovis; thread-necked worm, Nematodirus filicollis; nodular
worm, Oesophagostomum venulosum; mesentary worm, Setaria yehi; common
tapeworm, Taenia hydatigena; and three species of the coccidian, Eimeria:
E. mccordockii, E. madisonensis, and E. odocoilei. Prevalences were
generally highest in summer and lowest in winter. Although 10 of these
parasites have been reported from livestock, the impact of deer-livestock
associations on this deer population could not be assessed.
Two concentrations of Rhodamine B dye-labeled com, 0.1 percent and
0.5 percent by weight, were easily formulated and readily consumed by
penned white-tailed and fallow deer (Dama dama). The 0.5 percent dosage
was detected in all sample fecal pellets by its brilliant orange fluorescence
under long-wave ultraviolet light 48 and 72 hours after bait
consumption. As a result, the 0.5 percent dosage was used in field
studies to determine the portion of a wild deer population that consumed
bait during winter 1976. As indicated by the presence of Rhodamine 3
dye in sample fecal pellets for two trials, 85.5 percent and 86.5 percent
of the deer population on the Jordan Swamp study area consumed the dye labeled
corn.
Deer were live-trapped, marked, and released, and a recapture
frequency was obtained by aerial observation during winter 1976. The
deer population in the study area was estimated to be 10.8 (0.9-15.6,
p<0.05) deer/km^2 by a Schnabel Estimate and 12.9 (2.9-46.9, p<0.05)
deer/km^2 by a Lincoln Index. These estimates compare well with an overwinter
population estimate of 12.4 (2.9-21.9, p<0.05) deer/km^2 obtained
from a spring pellet-group count.
Based on the labeled bait consumption results, the potential for
controlling endoparasitism in white-tailed deer via drugs incorporated
in baits was assessed as excellent.