Vet Judy

In my last blog, I focused on some deer nutrition basics.  This blog will contain some seasonal basics on deer feeding habits.  Because many landowners or managers plan deer food plots for Trophy sized whitetail deer year around. That is to say deer food plots that provide nutrition and attraction in the late fall and winter months, I’ll emphasize nutritional needs during these months.

            While specific plants consumed by whitetail deer may vary by geographical region, an important feeding characteristic of deer—and an essential consideration for food plot design —will not vary by your geography.  It’s this: cover and habitat, not the attractiveness or availability of food sources, is a major consideration for where the deer go to eat.  This helps explain why deer graze on a variety of plant matter throughout the year—they’re utilizing the food that fits both into their habitat/cover preferences, as well as food that also happens to meet their seasonal nutritional needs.

            That is critical to keep in mind as you decide when and where to position the food plot that will help meet the nutritional and seasonal dietary needs of the deer on your land.

            Spring

            Spring means both doe and buck need lots of protein, and young plant growth helps provide a ready protein source.  Grasses that green early, forbs, and shrubs all provide tender new growth selected by deer in the spring.  Early-maturing legumes provide tender plants that help supply the higher protein requirements during the later spring.

            Summer

            Moving into summer months, deer typically reduce their grass consumption.  Maturing legumes like alfalfa and clover are important summer food sources, especially for lactating doe and growing fawns.  In many parts of northern and western North America, forbs become the most important food choice for Trophy whitetail deer in the summer.  During the later summer, shrubs become a preferred source.  In Minnesota, for example, asters, sumac, goldenrod, honeysuckle and jewelweed are all preferred by deer in the late summer.

            Fall

            Fall finds white-tailed deer transitioning to shrubby vegetation that is not as affected by fall frosts.  The “woody browse” season is here, as deer utilize shrubs and forbs in the native stand.  In farm areas, deer will also begin to utilize grains like corn and soybeans still standing before harvest.

            Part of the purpose of fall-feeding for deer is to begin storing fat and energy for the winter months.  A well-designed deer food plot will provide crops that can help deer accomplish this.

            Winter

            During the winter months, deer respond to less daylight with a lower metabolism.  Their appetites are naturally reduced, as they conserve energy and reduce the amount of food needed.  Trees and shrubs are making up at least three-quarters or their food supply, along with hard mast like acorns.

            While some food plot crops might supply deer with in-season protein needs and some mixes might promise to maximize the rack, responsible food plot design has to keep the nutritional needs of deer in the winter months in mind.  Providing crops like brassicas (like turnip) and grains (like soybean) that can be browsed through the winter will help ensure high-energy food sources during the lean winter months.

Source Consulted (Summer section, “In Minnesota, for example….”)

“Managing Your Woodland For White-tailed Deer”

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, January 2003

Pet adoptions are the process of taking responsibility for a pet or animal. The lonely pet may have been abandoned or surrendered to a shelter because their owners were unable to care for them. One place many people choose to adopt a pet is at an animal shelter. Pets that are captured without any ID tags and unclaimed by the owner are also adoptable pets. There are also individuals who put up notices giving their pet up for adoption. The internet is also widely used now as a source of information about pet adoptions. On the internet there are many websites that have information on a wide range of adoptable pets.

Irresponsible owners and those owners who abuse their animals continuously, will lose their pets totally. Many groups of animal lovers often save these mistreated pets from the violence and abuse they suffer. It isn’t just animal rescue organizations that respond to calls of abandoned animals, but also they take abandoned, unwanted and stray pets. Usually animal rescue groups are run only by unpaid volunteers.

Pet adoption from rescue groups most of the time has a stricter or more rigid process and some of the times, this process would include veterinary reference, background check and inspecting the home the animal will live in. There usually are adoption fees but these don’t cover transportation for getting your pets, paying for vetrinary expenses, vaccinations, training and meals.

It is important for most rescue organizations to do these since pet adoption really is about knowing if the new owners of the pet will be able to handle the responsibility and care of their new pet. This is to avoid that the same thing happen again to the unfortunate animal.

Animal shelters on the other hand, are run by the government. However, animal shelters are the best place for pet adoption.
Not only do they have adult animals, they also have kittens and puppies. An interesting fact about an animal shelter is that about 25 to 30 percent of animals in the shelters are purebreds.

Animal shelters also follow required procedures to ensure the proper welfare of animals put up for adoption.
Many shelters offer adoption counselling and follow up assistance. This process serves as a background check on the persons who will adopt but also an effort to provide good matches between people and animals. Dress your new pets in pet sweaters

Animal shelters also do require adoption fees. But the adoption charges are much less than the pet’s purchase price in the pet carrier backpack store. When adopting from an animal shelter, most require the animal to be spayed or neutered befor you can leave the shelter with it.

Even so, the new owner, most of the times, still encounter some challenges with the pet. These cases happen mostly with animals victim of abuse and neglect. The new owners should always provide extra patience in understanding and training the animals.
These will help the pets to overcome the past. According to Kelly Connolly of the Humane Society of the United States, there is an estimated 6 to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters each year. With these big numbers, there are just an estimated 3,500 standing animal shelters in the United State, not including an unknown number of smaller, local and home-based rescue organizations. These figures only show that there are not enough places that could accommodate our pets.

For people who are interested in having pets, pet adoption centers is a great way of saving money. At the same time provide a life-long home and love for animals in shelters and rescue groups.

I was contemplating how to end of the week in the practice of Ahisma, the first Yama in one of four limbs of yoga. Then this story came across my desk yet another time. I have seen this story in several different formats over the last year and each time it brings a smile to my face and opens my heart:)

Today is the day I move this story forward and share it with you. It is a perfect example of the practice of Ahisma, of non-harming and non-violence.

This is ‘Faith’                                                          
                                                                          
This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 3   
legs - 2 healthy hind legs and 1 abnormal front leg which needed          
to be amputated.   He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his 
mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive. Therefore, he   
was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep’. By this time, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.                                                         
She was determined to teach and train this dog to walk by himself.        

Therefore she named him ‘Faith’.      

 In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfing board to let him feel the movements.

Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him to stand up and jump around.                                      

Even the other dog at home also helped to encourage him to walk.  Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his 2 hind legs and jumped to move forward.                            
                                                                          
After further training in the snow, he now can walk like a human being.   

Faith loves to walk around now. No matter where he goes, he just attracts all the people around him. He is now becoming famous on the international scene. He has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows.  There is even one book entitled ‘With a little faith’ being published about him.      

His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul’.                     

It is a privilege and an honor to live in a place where technology gives us access to the special stories in the world. It is also a privilege to live in a part of the world where we are able to have the time, the resources, and space in our lives to do something so compassionate. Compassion towards this dog has transformed many lives, including no doubt, that of the current owner.

I have often said: It is difficult to imagine the positive aspects of right action over the long haul. Each time we practice Ahisma (non-harming, non-judgement) we acrue energy. It is said that the energy of every thought, action and deed is stored in the universal field. Through right action and right thought, one small piece at a time, your life can become almost unrecognizable. You may look back and and say I couldn’t have imagined the impact of this decision at the time.

For every person whose life has been touched by this story we give thanks to Faith and the one who had Faith and practiced Ahisma.  

You hear a lot about “legumes,” like clover and alfalfa, in the discussion of deer food plots.  In this blog, I will explain why legumes are so important to deer and why inoculating legumes is critical in planting deer food plots.

Legumes

            Legumes are more than just some of the tastiest forages available to deer and other wildlife.  They also contain high levels of protein—especially when compared to other grasses.

            Legumes are generally divided up into a half dozen groups.   These include:

            Alfalfa

            Birdsfoot trefoil

            Clovers

            Crownvetch

            Peas

            Soybean

            Some of these crops (alfalfa, trefoil, vetch, and clovers) are grown for their forage.  Others, like peas and soybeans, contain protein-rich grain.  All these groups will be recognized by the deer food plot manager as being part of successful deer food plots in different regions.

Rhizobia

            Legumes are unique plants because they have the ability to form a symbiotic relationship with a kind of soil bacteria contained in the genus Rhizobia.  Rhizobia bacteria can take, or “fix” nitrogen out of the air contained in the soil and make it available to the plant growing in the soil.

            Rhizobia bacteria occur naturally in fields where legumes have grown.  In places where legumes haven’t been grown (your deer food plot site, perhaps?), rhizobia need to be added to the soil.  This is done by a process called “inoculating.”  Inoculating ensures that rhizobia bacteria are present, providing more available nitrogen for the legumes and the other plants in your plot.

Tips for Using Legume Inoculants

            Inoculating legume seed is very simple.  It involves coating the seeds with a rhizobium inoculant, a usually a powder or dust containing the essential bacteria.  This inoculant should be available at a minimal cost from wherever you purchase your legume seed.

ü  Be sure that you’re using an inoculant containing the proper strain of bacteria for your crop.  For example, alfalfa and sweet clovers prefer a different strain of Rhizobia than soybeans.  This should be provided in the inoculant labeling information.

ü  If you purchase the inoculant before you intend to use it, be sure to store it at the recommended temperatures.  The Rhizobia prefer certain temperature ranges to flourish.

ü  Inoculant can come in powder or dust or liquids.  For some legumes, “pre-inoculated” seed is even available.  Simply be sure to follow the instructions for using the inoculant suited to your crop.

            Inoculating legumes is a proven, crucial practice to improving legume yields and providing nitrogen to crops grown in that space for years to come.  Don’t skip this essential step when establishing your deer food plot.

Interested in successful deer food plots? Step by step instructions that are simple to use in: Deer Food Plots Made Easy.

Health Canada Advises Consumers to Follow Label Directions on Flea and Tick Pest Control Products for Use on Cats and Dogs    

April 16, 2009

For immediate release

OTTAWA - Current data from Health Canada’s Pesticide Incident Reporting Program suggests there may be a potential for adverse reactions in cats and dogs from the use of flea and tick control products applied to the skin and sold in stores as pesticides.  These products can be identified by a Pest Control Product or PCP Registration Number on the label.  This advisory does not include flea and tick products sold as veterinary drugs, identified by a Drug Identification Number, or DIN, that are regulated by Health Canada. Health Canada is analyzing these veterinary drugs to determine if similar incidents have been reported.

While many people have used these products without any harmful effects on their pets, adverse reactions reported range from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and in some cases death.  As such, Health Canada is taking a precautionary approach and is advising pet owners to carefully read and follow all instructions noted on the product labels. Pet owners that are concerned with the use of flea and tick products should consult a veterinarian to ensure the product is appropriate and used safely.

Incidents with flea and tick products involve the use of spot-on treatments, sprays, collars and shampoos, although the majority of the incidents relate to spot-on products. Spot-on products are generally sold in tubes or vials and are applied to one or more localized areas on the body of the pet, such as in between the shoulders or in a stripe along the back.

Pet owners are advised to follow these important safety tips:

• Use flea and tick control products only on the animal specified by the product label ─ dog products for dogs, cat products for cats.
• Apply only the amount indicated for the size and/or weight of the animal being treated.  Consult your veterinarian if your pet is sick, aged, pregnant, nursing, is on medication or is exposed to other pesticides, as it may have additional sensitivity to the product.
• Consult a veterinarian if your pet experiences an adverse effect such as described above.
• Observe your pet closely during and after the treatment and monitor for any signs of an adverse reaction, particularly when using these products on your pet for the first time, as pets have varying sensitivities to pesticides.
• Report any adverse effects to the manufacturer who is required by law to report it to Health Canada. Contact information can be found on the product label. You may also report an

incident directly to Health Canada by completing the appropriate form ( http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pest/protect-proteger/incident/index-eng.php ) and send it by mail to the address on the form.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified similar concerns with the use of flea and tick products. Health Canada and the EPA are currently working with product manufacturers and veterinary health professionals to address this issue.

Consumers requiring more information about this advisory can contact the Pest Management Information Service, toll-free, at 1-800-267-6315.

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Health Canada
(613) 957-2983

Public Enquiries - Pest Management Information Service:

1-800-267-6315