Finding Deer in the Spring

[cletain]

Hi everyone,

I am a wildlife technician at the University of Calgary looking for your knowledgeable insight!

I am going to be looking for deer poop samples May & June from both white-tails and mule's for a parasite study I am working on. I ran the project last year and had a hard time finding deer during this time of year due to fawning reducing movement, deer not being grouped up as they are in winter and all the lush veg making it difficult to opportunistically find poop.

Looking for any advice on deer patterns, habitat preference or good areas to find alot of fecal samples in the spring as this is when they shed the most parasite eggs in their feces. Note this is a parasite that very rarely alters the health of deer and is not a risk to humans or your house pets. The parasite is more harmful to domestic sheep so we are trying to see if deer may be transmitting the parasite between sheep flocks in the province.

Also if anyone opportunistically has fresh deer poop they come across and you want to participate in the study and help me out big time I can set up a Purolator shipment for you to send in samples you find or meet you in person if you are in the Calgary area.


Contact:
Collin Letain

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary

HSC 2535, 3280 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N4Z6 Canada

Ph: 403-210-6678 /403-992-7817

Please feel free to email or call anytime with questions or to update me if you have a batch of samples you are wanting to send down so I am prepared for when they arrive. My cell if the time is outside office hours is 403-992-7817 which you can reach me at anytime.

Please see a brief description below. Thanks!

Brief project description:


University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Funding Agency: Alberta Livestock & Meat Agency

Objectives:
1) To gather information on gastro-intestinal parasite diversity in wild deer.

2) Compare parasite burdens between deer in contact with domestic sheep to those that are not, with special interest given to the parasite Haemonchus contortus.

3) Investigate the occurrence of drug resistance in H. contortus in wild deer and their possible transmission to sheep flocks.

Here are a couple articles we have had in the western producer and a wildlife group I work for if you wanted a bit of a story on the project.

http://blog.healthywildlife.ca/dispe...ock-interface/

https://www.producer.com/2017/11/she...for-deer-poop/

Thanks again!

[HunterDave]

I don't mind helping you out if you want samples from just north of Edmonton.

Is there anything special that you want done to preserve the samples and do you want them labeled with the date, location, etc?

[CF8889]

Edited

[Dick284]

Leave em alone, they need quiet solitude after a hard winter.

[cletain]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I don't mind helping you out if you want samples from just north of Edmonton.

Is there anything special that you want done to preserve the samples and do you want them labeled with the date, location, etc?

Hi Dave,

Any help you are willing to offer is greatly appreciated! Samples from North of Edmonton would be great.

Simple instructions we are giving are as follows and if you or anyone else are interested I can certainly send anyone some more detailed information for collection and submission.

We’re looking for any deer, white-tailed deer, mule deer anywhere in the province. We are asking for at least 30 pellets per sample, and they should be placed in a Ziploc sandwich bag with as much air squeezed from the bag as possible. Double bag the sample and include land location or gps coordinates on where it was collected and, if known, the species, gender and approximate age of the deer involved (even as general as adult or fawn are useful).

Samples should not be frozen and should be shipped by courier early in the week so they don’t sit over a weekend if at all possible.

Thank you for the response.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by cletain

Hi everyone,

I am a wildlife technician at the University of Calgary looking for your knowledgeable insight!

I am going to be looking for deer poop samples May & June from both white-tails and mule's for a parasite study I am working on. I ran the project last year and had a hard time finding deer during this time of year due to fawning reducing movement, deer not being grouped up as they are in winter and all the lush veg making it difficult to opportunistically find poop.

Looking for any advice on deer patterns, habitat preference or good areas to find alot of fecal samples in the spring as this is when they shed the most parasite eggs in their feces. Note this is a parasite that very rarely alters the health of deer and is not a risk to humans or your house pets. The parasite is more harmful to domestic sheep so we are trying to see if deer may be transmitting the parasite between sheep flocks in the province.

Also if anyone opportunistically has fresh deer poop they come across and you want to participate in the study and help me out big time I can set up a Purolator shipment for you to send in samples you find or meet you in person if you are in the Calgary area.


Contact:
Collin Letain

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary

HSC 2535, 3280 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N4Z6 Canada

Ph: 403-210-6678 /403-992-7817

Please feel free to email or call anytime with questions or to update me if you have a batch of samples you are wanting to send down so I am prepared for when they arrive. My cell if the time is outside office hours is 403-992-7817 which you can reach me at anytime.

Please see a brief description below. Thanks!

Brief project description:


University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Funding Agency: Alberta Livestock & Meat Agency

Objectives:
1) To gather information on gastro-intestinal parasite diversity in wild deer.

2) Compare parasite burdens between deer in contact with domestic sheep to those that are not, with special interest given to the parasite Haemonchus contortus.

3) Investigate the occurrence of drug resistance in H. contortus in wild deer and their possible transmission to sheep flocks.

Here are a couple articles we have had in the western producer and a wildlife group I work for if you wanted a bit of a story on the project.

http://blog.healthywildlife.ca/dispe...ock-interface/

https://www.producer.com/2017/11/she...for-deer-poop/

Thanks again!

Ya ok bud. Ya wanna blow smoke step outside and have a dart.

[FishOutOfWater]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Ya ok bud. Ya wanna blow smoke step outside and have a dart.

Why the negative response ? Do you feel this person isn't who they say they are, or that there are ulterior motives ?
I'm willing to contribute to his study, but would like to hear your reason for brushing him off.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by FishOutOfWater

Why the negative response ? Do you feel this person isn't who they say they are, or that there are ulterior motives ?

Yup.
First post and it’s a hum dinger.

Yup

[FishOutOfWater]

Originally Posted by Dick284

Yup.
First post and it’s a hum dinger.
Yup

Wouldn't his contact info be easily vetted ?

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by FishOutOfWater

Wouldn't his contact info be easily vetted ?

Been there dun dat.

Aren’t you the slightest bit perplexed why such a Rhode scholar wants out opinions on such matters. When he could schmooze up to a F&W biologist, and get all sorts of intel?

If it walks like a duck......