ST. JOSESPH COUNTY, Mich. (WWJ) — Dead deer on the side of the road is a common occurrence across the state, but residents living in southwest Michigan became concerned when not one, not two, but several decapitated deer carcasses were discovered in multiple areas.
According to WWMT, people living in Vicksburg, Three Rivers and other cities have reported seeing headless deer carcasses off to the side of the road in recent weeks. Crews with News Channel 3 also reported seeing four decapitated deer carcasses along stretches of road north of Three Rivers — all found within a couple hundred feet of each other.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said the cause of the beheaded bodies is less mysterious than it appears as officials with the Wildlife Division have been conducting tests on the local deer population for disease.
“So with those ones being on the side of the roads, it’s generally a strong possibility that our Wildlife Division is doing some kind of chronic wasting disease or tuberculosis disease testing in the free-ranging wild deer herd," said Sgt. Carter Woodwyk, a DNR conservation officer in Allegan County said to WWMT.
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"Sounds like currently, they have an initiative that’s focused within the area of Kalamazoo and Allegan and Branch counties, which would kind of explain the deer you were locating down there by Three River and Vicksburg. So currently, it sounds like they are taking the heads of some of those roadkill deer to have that testing done just to kind of eliminate the possibilities of that disease being around here.”
Cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) have been reported in the northern sections of Kent and Ionia counties last fall, but Woodwyk said so far, none of the samples collected this year in Allegan and Branch counties have returned with positive results.
CWD is a degenerative neurological disease that affects the brain in deer species, to include reindeer, elk and moose; it is fatal and highly contagious. It is also called 'Zombie Deer Disease' as animals that are infected become emaciated, display erratic and abnormal behavior and lose the ability to control bodily functions — the disease ultimately leads to death.
The DNR said there is currently no evidence to suggest the disease is zoonotic and poses no risk to humans.
Besides testing, Woodwyk told WWTM that there are other possible reasons for residents seeing the decapitated deer.
"If there was an antlered deer that was hit by a car, any passerby could acquire the antlers or the entire carcass of that deer through the salvage permit process," Woodwyk said. "So as long as they acquire a roadkill salvage permit from either local agency or like a local police agency or through the online salvage application, they would be able to take all of or certain parts of that deer if they wished.”
Woodwyk said another reason — although unlikely this time of year — could be from poachers.
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"Obviously, this time of year, a lot of the bucks, antlered deer, won’t have antlers at this point. They lose them in the winter and start growing them back in the spring," said Woodwyk. "But in the summer, fall, early winter, when antlered deer still have their antlers on their heads, it is always a possibility that those are poached animals.”
Woodwyk said headless deer can be seen by Michiganders throughout the hunting season in the late fall as well and there is no cause for concern.
“Say out in state land or sometimes, back in the woods, people could find a headless deer would be if somebody did shoot a buck, say during a deer season, and they let the deer hang too long or the deer got wet and the meat got tainted. They might take the head off that deer to keep the antlers and end up dumping the deer, which wouldn’t be legal, on somebody else’s property or out in the woods somewhere else. And that could be a reason for finding those out there," said Woodwyk.
There is a penalty for dumping deer carcasses, Woodwyk warned. If the DNR were to catch someone, they could be fined and charged with illegal dumping under the state's litter laws.
On occasion, Woodwyk said local road commissions will pick up carcasses on left on the side of the road, but more often than not, the bodies stay put to naturally decompose.
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