by Barry Drue
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is beginning a Deer Migration Study in the UP, and Baraga industrial education students are lending a hand. DNR Wildlife Technician Brad Johnson approached construction trades teacher John Filpus about building 14 eight-foot long deer trapping boxes. Filpus and students from Construction Trades, wood shop class and auto CAD jumped right in. The first five of the heavy-duty traps have just been completed. More are on the way. Johnson brought an existing treated plywood trap over to the school shop and students took the pattern from it and went to work. DNR Wildlife Research Biologist Dean Beyer of Marquette explained that the winter deer yard trapping will be done as an initial step to prepare in case the fatal neurological deer and elk disorder Chronic Wasting Disease slips over the border from Wisconsin where it has been confirmed. There are also confirmed deer CWD cases downstate in the East Lansing-Haslett area. The Deer Migration Study will use deer collared with GPS units to track their movements. Johnson noted that a collared deer from the ongoing Predator-Prey Study last winter showed movement between 40 and 50 miles, from Kenton to the Porkies. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.