It has taken more than 20 years, but some states are learning that the so-called war on chronic wasting disease is not going to be won via knee-jerk reactions.

And at least one state is changing its tune on how they deal with reports of sick deer.

For years, states have been wasting precious resources responding to calls of sickly deer. Invariably, a good-hearted soul sees a sick deer, reports it, leading to a series of events. Normally, a biologist would be dispatched to the site where the deer was killed and then a sample taken for testing. In Wisconsin alone, more than 300,000 “sick” deer were reported as “showing signs of CWD” over the past two decades.

Only 24% of those deer actually had CWD.

At the end of the day, testing those sick deer cost millions of dollars that could have been spent more wisely.

READ MORE: $7 MILLION EAR-MARKED FOR CWD EFFORTS

Although Wisconsin hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of testing sick deer, its neighbor to the east — Michigan — has done exactly that. Under a new policy enacted last fall, the Michigan DNR will now focus on deer in rotating regions of the state each year and also enlist taxidermists and meat processors to submit samples for CWD testing.

 

 

According to BridgeMI, the move signals a significant change for some Michigan hunters who may have grown accustomed to submitting deer heads into drop boxes or check stations to get them tested by DNR staff, free of charge. DNR officials say the more geographically targeted approach will cost the state less money while yielding better data about where chronic wasting disease is spreading.

According to researchers at Michigan State University, cervids that contract CWD may take months or even years before they show symptoms of having the disease. Symptoms can include extreme weight loss, lack of coordination, drooping head and/or ears, excessive drooling, excessive drinking and excessive urination.