Wisconsin wildlife managers hope people will not feed deer.
Baiting and feeding bans are in place of much of the state where deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease.
That includes Vilas, Oneida, Lincoln, Langlade and Forest Counties among 60 counties statewide where a ban is in place.
The DNR says baiting and feeding encourage deer to gather in a way that is not natural.
That creates an environment where diseases like chronic wasting can spread.
Infected deer can also leave infectious CWD prions behind in their saliva, blood, feces and urine, creating a risk to any healthy deer that may visit the site in the future.
CWD prions are extremely resilient, and they can stay in the soil for a long time, making containment of an affected area a challenge.
You can still feed birds and small mammals in areas where deer feeding bans are in place, but it does have to be done in a way where deer can’t eat from the feeder.
It also needs to be within 50 yards of a human dwelling.
You do need to keep the feeder close to the house, and high enough to keep deer from using it. In counties where baiting and feeding bans are in effect, individuals may still feed birds and small mammals provided feeding devices are within 50 yards of a human dwelling and at a sufficient height or design to prevent access by deer.
CWD is an always-fatal disease that affects the nervous system of deer, elk, moose and caribou caused by a misshapen prion protein.
The disease can spread through contact with an infected animal's saliva, urine, feces or blood. It can also spread indirectly through exposure to a contaminated environment.
To mitigate these risks and slow the spread of CWD, state law directs the DNR to impose baiting and feeding bans within any county with a confirmed CWD-positive wild or captive deer or any county within 10 miles of the location of the positive deer.
As directed by state statute, counties fall under a three-year baiting and feeding ban when a wild or farm-raised deer tests positive for CWD in the county. If the CWD-positive deer is found within 10 miles of a county line, the adjoining county will fall under a two-year ban.
If additional CWD cases are found during the lifetime of a baiting and feeding ban, the ban will reset for an additional two to three years. Therefore, the date when a baiting and feeding ban is scheduled to expire within a given county may change due to new farm-raised and wild CWD positive detections.
