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I like to throw the deer some corn and watch them eat it in my back yard. The feed I buy says "Deer Corn" on the bag, so I just assume it is for the deer. Hmh!! Am I wrong?
Just a reminder I am only a New Mexican about 4-6 weeks a year. I am a desert rat from Tempe, AZ who thinks watching deer (and bear) in my back yard is really, really, really cool!!!
You're right. Deer corn is for deer.
I enjoy watching them too.
i agree that feeding wild animals is generally a very bad idea, birds excluded.
but there are times when i think exceptions should be made. in 2001, there was a late frost in central NM that killed all the berries, and not a day passed in august/september that year that you didn't hear about a black bear being sighted in las vegas or one of the surrounding communities. one even climbed into the walmart dumpster at 2 in the afternoon, which should tell you how desperately hungry the poor thing was. and in early september, one actually broke into a house and killed/partially ate a 93-year-old woman in mora, just up the road (http://www.bitterroot.com/grizzly/Baker.html - broken link).
so it seemed to me, that particular year, it would have been a good move to take some of the thousands of pounds of discarded food that end up in dumpsters every day and leave it at feeding sites outside of town, as an emergency measure.
Excluding birds, how many of you out here buy dog and cat foods to feed our critters?
My wife works at a dollar store, and, she's told me stories about people who will come into the store, and purchase cheap dog and cat foods to feed javelinas, bobcats, and some have even told my wife they buy ground hamburger at the grocery store to feed roadrunners.
I think this practice is wrong headed. Just recently, Elephant Butte Lake State Park, the south unit has been experiencing problems with javelinas.
I believe last year a mountain lion and a bobcat were spotted at the south unit too.
While we all might love animals, some people put foods out to attract certain critters, and sometimes unknowingly end up attracting the unwanted ones which could be dangerous to humans.
A guy named charlie told me at springtime camp in the Cibola National Forest, a group of scouts didn't clean up the camp sites of rubbish and food waste, which attracted mice, which in turn brought about a large population of rattlesnakes.
What's your opinion?
I have a large compost pile which is scavanged on a nightly basis. I suppose that, indirectly, I am feeding the local animal population but there is no direct connection between myself and the critters that are fed thanks to my kitchen scraps.
Insofar as preditors are concerned, I would not have a problem with them being around any more than I would a 'coon or 'possum. I might feel differently if I had outdoor pets, livestock or children (heaven forbid). The largest preditor we have here is the coyote or bobcat, and although I would not want to tussle with either, I am not particularly fearful of them being around. Now then, if I lived in Cougar/Bear country it would be a horse of a different color.
20yrsinBranson
Last edited by 20yrsinBranson; 04-07-2009 at 09:32 AM..
Reason: fix typo
I have a large compost pile which is scavanged on a nightly basis. I suppose that, indirectly, I am feeding the local animal population but there is no direct connection between myself and the critters that are fed thanks to my kitchen scraps.
Insofar as preditors are concerned, I would not have a problem with them being around any more than I would a 'coon or 'possum. I might feel differently if I had outdoor pets, livestock or children (heaven forbid). The largest preditor we have here is the coyote or bobcat, and although I would not want to tussle with either, I am not particularly fearful of them being around. Now then, if I lived in Cougar/Bear country it would be a horse of a different color.
20yrsinBranson
I think your living near Barnson and us living in NWA is a little different. As you said, we do not get the same wildlife as some places in NM.
When we first came out, I did feed a road runner, ground round or t that time I did not have a screen door on the fromt door but had it open. So this guy wanted more, and walked in the house yelling at me for more. That did it, he got weaned of food. It was funny at the time, but I realized how it was not helping him.
When you say t, do you mean a t-bone steak?
You should have gotten a picture of that.
I can tell that people who have posted in this thread have a soft spot in their hearts for animals.
Years ago we were camped out in Washington State Park, in Missouri while rock hunting around Festus, Mo. The sun set beautifully, and after dark, we sat at the picnic table having a wine cooler before turning in for the night.
All of a sudden, the grand daddy or grand mother of all skunks approached us. This skunk must have been the size of a medium sized dog. My friend steve jumped up upon the picnic table, my wife ran behind the van, and I just stood there trying to shoo it away. I even yelled at it to try to get it to leave.
Did it leave? it did not. I threw it some chips, then a leftover, and it still would not leave. Finally, I grabbed a giant milky way bar, unwrapped it, and showed it to the skunk, and I then flung it into the woods. The skunk took off trying to find the milky way bar. whew, that was a close one. Oh, our dog was going absolutely nuts.
We were then left alone for the evening. Maybe the chocolate bar put the skunk to sleep.
There's probably only one or two reasons why this skunk was so bold and brazen. 1. people have fed it before. I gave it stuff to try to get it to leave. (dumb move) 2. people have not been picking up after themselves, and like the scavenger they are, left over food scraps left lying around are the attractant.
Whenever we have gone anywhere in New Mexico to camp out, we're very aware of the surroundings, and, we don't leave even a morsel for a wild animal. We clean up and pack our rubbish out with us if no containers are available.
I suppose feeding deer is ok during drought and heavy snows. Although I'm not a biologist, I think it's a bad habit to get into. We should probably try keeping wild animals wild. Although sometimes our hearts and minds tell us different.
I do know this, racoons, possum, and skunks are definitely big time garbage pickers. They'll eat just about anything, even corn. It's food to them. The problem with this is what one other poster said about critters getting under your home into a crawlspace or other opening in your home. And, this can be unwanted.
You're right. Deer corn is for deer.
I enjoy watching them too.
"Deer corn" is just corn...cheap feed corn. More importantly, it's bait.
When you see it packaged and sold, the human "consumer" is normally a hunter who keeps a bait pile just before and during hunting season. Much easier to slay Bambi when the little sweetheart is standing still stuffing it's face with corn, wormy apples, carrots, etc.
I have no problem with hunting at all...but do have a problem with such bait stations. It encourages deer and other creatures to get much closer to each other than they normally do (greatly increased contact), and so the practice also is responsible for wildlife diseases being spread far more easily and widely than would normally be the case. This is true (sorry folks) for feeding deer in your yard so you can watch them, though a case could be made that tossing the occasional carrot a deer's way is not as bad as a semi-permanent bait station.
Michigan has banned baiting deer for exactly this reason, as have other states. Diseases that were present but not widespread became common and caused a great increase in deer mortality. Now a fatal disease called CWD (chronic wasting disease) is spreading to areas where it had never been seen. The deer, ultimately, lose....due to feeding, except in extreme winter conditions where starvation is almost a certainty.
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