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Biologists Use Helicopters And Nets To Check Deer Health

nature.org
Net gun demonstration

Hunting is big business in Utah, with over 50,000 permits sold in 2015 for buck mule deer alone. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is charged with looking after the deer, and that means protecting them from poaching, reducing the number of animals struck by vehicles, and making sure the individuals are healthy. So the deer sometimes need a checkup.

“When we bring them in to process them, we’re using an ultrasound to get a variety of measurements of how much fat they’ve put on and just overall condition of the deer," said Kent Hersey, Big Game Project Leader with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. He’s in charge of assessing the health of deer all over the state. "And with a deer, what they need is a good fat reserve to make it through the winter. They build up fat in the summertime and then that helps them get through the winter.”

To ultrasound a deer, you have to be able to touch it safely. Mule deer are big, powerful animals, so the safety of the scientists and the deer has to be taken seriously. Crews in helicopters use devices reminiscent of a Batman movie to immobilize the deer.

“It is all done with net guns," said Hersey, "so it’s a gun that fires a .308 blank, and it shoots a net out that spreads out as it shoots and it just entangles the deer, and then they get out what’s called a ‘mugger.’ He jumps out and he untangles the deer from the net, he hobbles it, blindfolds it, and then puts it in a bag and then slings it back to us. But we don’t use any drugs to sedate them. Once you put that blindfold on and once their legs are tied up, they tend to calm down pretty good.”

Using tranquilizers darts on deer can have unintended consequences. For one, deer can have negative reactions and be harmed by these drugs. For two, a darted deer can run for miles before the drugs take effect. By using helicopters and net guns, biologists can work quickly, assessing as many as thirty deer in a single day. This method is also safe for the animals.

“It works really well and we have really low mortality rates associated with it,” Hersey said.