Wildlife experts in Iowa are looking at the possibility of controlling the ever-expanding deer population with a contraceptive that works on males and females.
The single-dose vaccine is still in development and works by neutralizing sex hormones. It's the work of scientists at the National Wildlife Research Center - and could be approved by the EPA next year. A measure is already before the state legislature to regulate wildlife contraceptives so the vaccine is not misused.
Could synthetic bear or wolf urine make the highways safer? Would it work to scare deer away from high-traffic roads? That's just one of many questions being considered at a conference in Minnesota.
Delegates from eight states are meeting to discuss ways to cut down on the number of crashes involving deer, which kill about 200 people nationwide each year.
Minnesota is joining Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin to fund the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Research Center. Delegates will wrap up their meeting today with a vote on which proposed research projects to fund with their combined $280,000.
A very unusual rescue saved a deer that wondered out onto the ice covering Oklahoma's Lake Thunderbird. The deer went down and couldn't recover its footing on the slippery surface. A crowd gathered to watch its struggle and there was much discussion about how to help the animal.
A news helicopter from KWTV came to the scene and solved the problem in an unexpected way. The "wash" from the copter's rotors actually sent the deer sliding, belly-first, toward the shore. Once it reach land, the deer was able to, shakily, find its feet and run off.
See the amazing video as KWTV pilot Mason Dunn talks about the rescue with the station's news anchors.
From KCRA
A rare albino deer has been spotted in the foothills of Tuolumne County.The
state Department of Fish and Game offered no details about how many
such deer there are, but said such an animal is extremely rare.Resident Barbara Goethe said she first saw the doe while looking out her kitchen window.
"I was just startled," Goethe said. "I saw this ... blob of white out there."Resident Eleanor Ellis said she at first mistook the deer for a goat or a sheep.The rare deer, believed to be les than a year old, is often seen with her mother, who has normal markings.
