Pink Deer Alert!
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/news-releases/2012/032612pinkdeeralert.htm

Fairfax County Police Department
Public Information Office
4100 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, Va. 22030
703-246-2253. TTY 703-204-2264. Fax 703-246-4253
FCPD-PIO@fairfaxcounty.gov
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police
News Release:12/086/LHC
March 26, 2012

**Media are invited to meet researchers and learn more about the research study on MONDAY, between 12:30-2:30 PM, Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist Office Trailer at 10700 Page Ave. Fairfax VA 22030 (brown trailer to right of Burkholder Building); Call PIO to RSVP.



Pink Deer Alert!
Collaborative Research Study Underway

As part of a new research study looking at a novel method of controlling tick infestations, the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist’s Office has deployeddeer feeding stations in 20 locations across the county.

These stations are used to attract deer, using corn as bait. When the deer come to feed, they rub up against rollers treated with a pesticide used to kill ticks. A non-toxic dye is added to the rollers that will leave a pink streak on the deer that come in contact with the stations. The pink dye fades in three to four days.

Residents shouldn’t be alarmed if they notice raccoons, squirrels, or other creatures that may have come into contact with the pink dye at the feeding stations.

The three-year study examines the use of this technology as a novel method of controlling tick infestations on white-tailed deer and the practicality of the stations to treat free-roaming deer. Deer are the primary host of adult blacklegged ticks which transmit diseases, such as Lyme disease, to humans.

Development of this study has been underway since 2009 and deployment of the stations is expected to last from 2012 through early 2015. The feeding stations have been deployed at the following locations: Sully Woodlandsand Hemlock Overlook Regional Park. Laurel Hill Park and Braddock Park have been selected as control sites to collect additional tick data, minus deployment of the feeding stations.

The research study is being conducted by the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist’s Office and the Health Department’s Disease Carrying Insects Program, with the support of the Fairfax County Park Authority and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. The feeding stations are not presently available for legal commercial use in Virginia, so a special permit was issued by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

The cost of the three-year study is approximately $380,000 and includes purchase and maintenance of the feeding stations and supplies, corn, pesticide, and technicians’ wages.

For more information on this study, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/living/wildlife or contact the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist Office at 703-246-6868.-
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That may explain the pink elephants?

I could purchase and maintain the feeding stations over 3 years for less than 380K!!

CDC Wrote:
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> I could purchase and maintain the feeding stations
> over 3 years for less than 380K!!

It also includes the research study aspect and the rollers with the special pesticide.

What is the purpose of this pink dye?
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6X Wrote:
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> What is the purpose of this pink dye?

For the study it allows the researchers to see how many deer have eaten the treated feed and how well the food is being received by the deer herds.

Calling all photographers:

Props and kudos for the first original photo of pink deer in Fairfax County posted on fairfax underground!

Why don't they just shoot the deer? That would seem to be a more permanent solution. Feeding the deer will lead to more deer. I am more worried about deer munching on my plants than the chance I manage to pick up a deer tick.

lost again Wrote:
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> Why don't they just shoot the deer? That would
> seem to be a more permanent solution. Feeding the
> deer will lead to more deer. I am more worried
> about deer munching on my plants than the chance I
> manage to pick up a deer tick.

Common Sense is not something the county is known for.

Good, now the hunters can see their asses better.

If there is a tick infestation, then what is the quality of the deer meat?

The Dharma Initiative Wrote:
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> If there is a tick infestation, then what is the
> quality of the deer meat?

Fine.

Ticks eat blood from the surface, not subsurface like, say, worms (of which the deer probably have many anyway).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis

We'd love to shoot them but no property owners will let you hunt. That being siad if there are any irritated property owners out there that would like there population minimized let me know. I harvest and eat the venison.