The dozen deer heads on the floor of the Traverse City Field Office of the Department of Natural Resources may look gruesome, but they are prime contributions to research. To DNR wildlife assistant Vic Lane, working the check station at 970 Emerson Rd., these donated heads are the only way to eliminate bovine tuberculosis among deer in the state. DNR officials are urging hunters to have their deer surveyed by wildlife assistants at any one of the 88 check stations in the state. We rely on the hunters for their cooperation. Northern Michigan has check stations in Manistee, Benzie, Kalkaska, Leelanau and Grand Traverse counties.
Every head is a step in that direction.
Lane said hunters have the option of donating the heads or just giving out information about their deer. Donated deer heads are destroyed as part of the testing. Keith Williams of Traverse City opted for donating the head of the four-point buck he shot on Nov. 16. As Williams waited, DNR wildlife assistant Cindy Cook took down information about the deer, including where it was shot. Williams got his buck south of Manistee.