By Judy Hoy, Stevensville
Researchers who exposed pregnant White-tailed Deer to Imidacloprid determined that many fawns born after exposure in the womb had reproductive malformations and underdeveloped facial bones (Nature, 2019), for which our 2002 and 2011 studies reported a high prevalence on grazing animals in Montana (Michael Howell, Bitterroot Star, April 9, 2019). A person in the Helena MFWP Office recently insisted that MFWP biologists had reported no birth defects on game animals to him.
I am a biologist and a volunteer for MFWP. For 20+ years, I have reported malformations to MFWP personnel and to him. Consequently, it was extremely ironic when a photo of a WTD buck with easily observed short lower jaw, taken in Missoula, MT was published on the January cover of High Country News Magazine to illustrate a story about deer hit by vehicles. Underbite and overbite, as well as no bursa formed on the external skin on male animals, is easily observed. I know that biologists who work or who used to work for MFWP have reported those birth defects on Montana wildlife, as have others. Anyone with relatively good eyesight can see those birth defects. However, the birth defects are not nearly as disruptive to hunting as CWD. The question we all should be asking is, WHY THE BIG COVER-UP?