Tapeworm cysts in Muley Buck

[fireweed]

I'm pretty familar with these cysts from butchering out two NE Wash moose.  Both bulls had them. Look like small round bits of fat in a clear bubble.  They cycle between predators and prey--mostly wolves.  Started butchering out my mule buck (about 4 1/2 years old) and come across a few cysts.  Not too many--far fewer than the moose--but just a head's up to muley hunters.  Buck is from NCentral "burn".  Worms will only spread with more wolves.  P.S. Meat is still good if you get one.  WDFW told us with the moose, "just don't  feed it to your dogs."  Lots of well-done burgers ahead.

[h2ofowlr]

Kind of like this!  This was off of a mule deer this season.  Between the layers of muscle all throughout the deer.

[Atroxus]

That looks nasty.

If you cut them out and cook well done, is safe though? 

[stickbuck]

That does look nasty! At least it should be fine if cooked enough, but what a pain in the arse.

[bearpaw]

Cysts on a 2012 WA moose liver. I have never seen them before this year on any WA game and we have eaten wild liver since I was a kid in the 60's.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Liver ....YUCK  That looks very nasty and I hope you did not eat that one !

[bearpaw]

Liver ....YUCK  That looks very nasty and I hope you did not eat that one !

It was all discolored within, you can see the color is wrong in the bottom photo, it was not eaten. 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Wonder what is causing it ?

[bobcat]

If anything were to ever stop me from deer hunting, this would be it.   

[BOWHUNTER45]

I have never seen that on the wetside before ..the deer my son got and my buddy got had more fat on them than I have seen in a long time ...There was fat inside the meat and i was tired of cutting it out ...I checked the livers on both of them bucks and they were as good of looking as a liver can look  I never pack out the liver but this year I did because my buddy wanted some ...He said it tasted great ...YUCK YUCK No thanks  I was forced to eat it as a kid and I would dump a half bottle of Ketchup on it and hold my breath and swallow 

[Smokepole]

My son shot a doe in the Alta unit a few years back & she was full of cysts.  Looked like tomato seeds and there were plenty of them.  We had some for camp meat before we knew what it was.  Then found out what it was.  We trimmed most out we could see.  Meat was fine.  You can kill the cysts by freezing for 1 month in the deep freeze.

I love venison liver.  You soak it in cold water a couple days.  Change the water 2x a day.  Slice it 1/4" thin & soak it in milk for a couple hours.  Makes it mild & tender.  Flour & fry it like venison.  Pull the liver off to the side before you add onions.  The onions make the liver slimey, which aint good.  I like it crispy with onions on the side.  Yumm!

[bearpaw]

I'm pretty sure it's Echinococcus Granulosus (wolf worms), they are called that because wolves are an ideal host spreading them far and wide with their stools. Other canines such as coyote, fox, and dogs make good hosts too. Ungulates, cattle, sheep, can get them from eating vegetation from near where stools were left by infected canines. Humans can get the worms by ingesting contaminated berries, mushrooms, etc, or by inhaling the microscopic eggs scattered from canine stools or off the coats of infected canines that groom themselves. Two thirds of wolves killed and tested from Idaho and Montana tested positive for Echinococcus Granulosus (wolf worms) at WSU.

I have posted these videos several times before. Even third world countries are taking preventative actions to teach their people to avoid infected dogs, livestock, etc. Anyone who doubts the dangers of "wolf worms", please simply do a youtube search for "hydatid disease".

Cystic echinococcosis - Kist hidatik (subtitle in English)
Cystic echinococcosis, a life-treatening infection transmitted from dogs to humans. Prevention and control

Craniotomy Surgery for Hydatid Cyst of Brain done by Dr.Mohammed Nooruldeen.MP4
Craniotomy Surgery for Hydatid Cyst of Brain

Totally removal of the liver hydatid cyst. Karaciğer kist hidatiğinin total çıkarılması
Cyctopericystectomy of hepatic hydatid cyst describes totally removing of the all parasitic mass and the wall which surrounds this parasitic mass. It is a radikal procedure, with low recurrence rates. Modern surgical devices, here the ultracision was used has made this operation easy and quick.

[villageidiot]

This is all amazing that all this has been predicted to come with the wolves and the people that can get it stopped do not listen or else don't care.  One would think that the State Veterinarian would be alarmed and declare an emergency to get this new disease stopped in its tracks.  They have declared war on some sort of muscle clams that stick to boats and I read an article that a guy was found towing a boat across the state with these muscle clams attached and he was severely fined for his actions.   Yet the Govt. can introduce this harmful disease and they are forgiven and even regarded as Heros by the environmental crowds.   

[Smokepole]

Interesting, Bearpaw.  The doe my son killed was from Lookout Mt.  The liver in the doe had a pale yellow hue and the liver flesh looked similar to lung flesh.  We decided not to eat the liver, of course.  The only thing the wolves have done for us in that area is root out the deer. 

[bearpaw]

Interesting, Bearpaw.  The doe my son killed was from Lookout Mt.  The liver in the doe had a pale yellow hue and the liver flesh looked similar to lung flesh.  We decided not to eat the liver, of course.  The only thing the wolves have done for us in that area is root out the deer.

The moose we killed with that infected liver was from within a few miles of the Idaho border close to where there have been wolf sightings. The serious threat is that once this parasite is spread widely by wolves leaving scat all over the countryside, dogs, coyotes, moose, deer, elk, and even humans can become infected.