Conservation officials warn public not to feed deer

Officials with the Missouri Department of Conservation are reminding the public about a regulation against feeding deer in certain parts of the state will take effect by the end of the month.

The ban, which goes into effect May 30, prohibits using grain, salt products, minerals, and other consumable products to attract deer. It applies to counties in central, north-central, and east-central Missouri.Mid-Missouri counties under the ban will include Boone, Callaway, Chariton, Cole, Cooper, Gasconade, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, and Randolph.

The ban is a step the Department of Conservation is taking to limit the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease which infects only deer and members of the deer family. According to MDC, CWD has no vaccine or cure, and is 100% fatal. It spreads from deer to deer, and the risk of transmission goes p when deer gather in larger, concentrated numbers, such as at feeding sites.

Exceptions to the ban include feeding wildlife within 100 feet of a home or occupied building; feed placed in a manner which excludes access by deer; and feed and minerals used solely for agricultural, forest management, or wildlife food-plot-production practices.

You can read more about CWD here.