Metal presence in deer and ducks may be a consequence of nutrition, health, baiting, contamination, and/or environmental factors. We sought to determine a method to examine the extent of metal content (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) in deer hooves and duck feet killed in three counties in south Alabama and four counties in northwest Florida. A total of 40 deer hooves from deer were obtained from deer processing companies and hunting, and a total of 20 duck feet were obtained from hunting at freshwater and saltwater locations. Samples were weighed, identified by county, species, sex, and size, and were completely dissolved and digested in concentrated acid, followed by a 100-fold dilution in 7% nitric acid. All samples were analyzed for ten metals using inductively-couple plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) against standards used in industrial protocol. Lead content in samples of south Alabama deer hooves ranged from 0.3 to 1.4% by mass. Based upon the amount of ten metals determined in our studies, the concentration of metals determined in the deer hooves samples as measured by ICP-OES showed that the comparative levels of metals present was: Zn &gt; Fe &gt; Cu &gt; Ni &gt; Mn &gt; Pb &gt; Cr &gt; Cd, with V not detected and Co detected in hooves from only two deer in our studies. The metals detected in deer hooves from three counties in Alabama reflected deer nutrition, health, and environment, including added metals from one supplementary feeding site. The mean concentration of metals determined in the duck feet samples as measured by ICP-OES showed that the comparative levels of metals present were: Fe &gt; Cu &gt; Zn &gt; Ni &gt; Mn &gt; Co &gt; Cr &gt; Pb &gt; Cd &gt; V, consistent with water quality analysis and vegetation content in the environment. Our metal analysis of deer hooves and duck feet demonstrated that deer hooves and duck feet may be used as sentinels of the environment, health, and nutrition of deer and duck population in a specific region.

Determination of the metal content in deer hooves and duck feet: Sentinels of health, nutrition and the environment

255th National Meeting (2018)

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