Between November 2000 and November 2005, approximately 200 mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from western Nebraska were extensively examined for the presence of Elaeophora schneideri, Wehr and Dikmans, 1935; three adult E. schneideri were detected from three mule deer. This represents the first documented occurrence of E. schneideri from wil...

Human–wildlife confl icts associated with suburban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations have increased in the last 20 years. Primary threats to human health and safety associated with overabundant deer populations include deer–vehicle collisions, attacks on humans, disease, and damage to native and ornamental vegetation. During the fawning seasons (May–June) of 2005 and 2006, ...

Frequency of interspecific hybridization between mule deer and white-tailed deer was investigated using ribosomal DNA and nucleotide sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Two of 15 individuals (collected by hunters) from northwestern Texas (Kent County) were identified as hybrids based on the ribosomal DNA marker. Sequence data from the cytochrome b gene indicated that 1 individua...

Effective delivery of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals to wildlife populations is needed when zoonotic diseases pose a risk to public health and natural resources or have considerable economic consequences. The objective of our study was to develop a bait-distribution strategy for potential delivery of oral bovine tuberculosis (bTB) vaccine to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) where ...

The objective of our study was to determine whether satellite remote sensed data could be used to identify white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmerman) (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), habitat and target locations for sampling free-living larvae of the southern cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini) (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in South Texas. Two methods for mapping white-taile...

We determined the antibody prevalence to Ehrlichia spp., in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and the geographic distribution of seropositive animals in 84 counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia (USA). Using an indirect f...

Immunocontraceptive vaccines have shown some promise for fertility control of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in urban and suburban habitats where traditional methods of population control may not be applicable. Currently, the only contraceptive vaccine approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use in white-tailed deer is GonaConTM Immunocontraceptive Vaccine, but it i...

The suitability of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) as hosts for the cattle ticks Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus, has been well documented. These ticks have a wide host range, and both transmit Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina, the agents responsible for bovine babesiosis. Although this disease and its vectors have been eradicated from th...

Sympatric populations of phylogenetically related species are often vulnerable to similar communicable diseases. Although some host populations may exhibit spatial structure, other hosts within the community may have unstructured populations. Thus, individuals from unstructured host populations may act as interspecific vectors among discrete subpopulations of sympatric alternate hosts. We used ...

Wildlife reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis represent serious obstacles to the eradication of tuberculosis in domestic livestock and the cause for many faltering bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes. One approach in dealing with wildlife reservoirs of disease is to interrupt inter-species and intraspecies transmission through vaccination of deer or cattle. To evaluate the efficacy of BCG v...