Penn State’s Deer Research Center, commonly referred to as “the deer pens,” has been an endearing part of many students’ college experiences since the 1970s, providing a one-of-a-kind opportunity for hands-on learning about one of the state’s most recognizable mammals.
The cruel truth is that throughout the white-tailed deer's range only about half of all fawns live to see their first birthday — most are killed by predators. However, they have a much better chance of surviving if they are born in farmland rather than in forest, according to Penn State researchers, who collaborated with Pennsylvania Game Commission deer biologists.
The recent announcement by the Pennsylvania Game Commission that it found 25 more wild deer with chronic wasting disease last year underlines the importance of studies being conducted by a team of researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Selective browsing by white-tailed deer likely is promoting the spread of some invasive plant species in northeastern U.S. forests, as deer avoid eating vegetation they find unpalatable.
Thanks to geospatial technologies like GPS, one Penn State research study may soon have a better understanding of how to balance woodland creatures’ effect on forest vegetation.
The Deer-Forest Study, led by professors Duane Diefenbach and Marc McDill, is a collaborative project among Penn State, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry and the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
There seems to be a lot of common wisdom that exists when it comes to whitetails, such as, "It's near full moon, so the deer are only moving at night." Or how about, "A cold front is coming, which is why the deer are out feeding."
Two years into a study of factors influencing forest regeneration in Pennsylvania, Penn State researchers are offering never-before-seen insights into deer movement.
A study of the spread of chronic wasting disease among white-tailed deer in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania found that infected deer tend to cluster in low-lying open and developed areas. These results suggest that state wildlife management agencies should concentrate surveillance efforts in such topography and landscapes, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Food-safety specialists with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences annually issue warnings to deer hunters to keep food safety in mind if they are fortunate enough to get a buck or a doe, and this fall is no exception. However, this year because of the discovery of chronic wasting disease in wild Pennsylvania deer, they are cautioning hunters to be sure their animal appears healthy.
Research done in the College of Agricultural Sciences on dispersal of young white-tailed deer will inform efforts to manage the outbreak of chronic wasting disease in Pennsylvania and predict how chronic wasting disease will spread.
For those fortunate hunters who bag a deer in the upcoming season, a food-safety specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences offers some advice for field dressing and storing the carcass properly and processing the meat.
The discovery this fall of chronic wasting disease in two deer on a game farm in southeastern Pennsylvania has hunters concerned, but they shouldn't overreact, according to experts in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Because the disease -- often referred to as CWD -- was discovered in recent years in both wild and game-farm deer in the neighboring states of New York, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, the reality is it may have crept undetected into Keystone State deer from a number of sources, noted David Wolfgang, extension veterinarian and field studies director in veterinary and biomedical sciences. Currently, more than two dozen deer farms remain under quarantine as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's ongoing CWD investigation. So far, there has been no sign that the disease has crossed over from the captive deer population to the wild deer herd.
On the heels of finding chronic wasting disease in a Pennsylvania deer, it's time for the state's game commissioners to consider a ban on deer feeding, according to a veterinarian in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. It actually is past time, noted David Wolfgang, extension veterinarian and field studies director in veterinary and biomedical sciences.On the heels of finding chronic wasting disease in a Pennsylvania deer, it's time for the state's game commissioners to consider a ban on deer feeding. That's the conclusion of a veterinarian in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Penn State Extension, in partnership with the Quality Deer Management Association and the University's School of Forest Resources' Web Seminar Center, will offer three webinars this spring focusing on the management of white-tailed deer.
For hunters lucky enough to bag a deer in the upcoming seasons, a food-safety specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences offers some advice to properly field dress and store the carcass, and then process the meat. "The time from when the deer is downed until it is processed can have the largest impact on the safety and quality of the meat," said Martin Bucknavage, food safety extension associate in the Department of Food Science.
