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They are not starving. And you want people to feed the deer? What....deer treats? Oh that'll work.....
Actually here in the Mid-Atlantic they are starving. Hunting has been limited by suburban/exurban growth and limits on hunting in state and federal forestland that their population is exploding. The food source has not expanded and can't support the deer population. They are also killing young trees in forestland as well as crops. They are also smart enough to know where they can be hunted so actually move to areas near people since you can't hunt near houses or other buildings.
If you started feeding them the word would spread through the deer grapevine and they would be a bigger nuisance at your location than tree rats, I mean squirrels.
Actually here in the Mid-Atlantic they are starving. Hunting has been limited by suburban/exurban growth and limits on hunting in state and federal forestland that their population is exploding. The food source has not expanded and can't support the deer population. They are also killing young trees in forestland as well as crops. They are also smart enough to know where they can be hunted so actually move to areas near people since you can't hunt near houses or other buildings.
If you started feeding them the word would spread through the deer grapevine and they would be a bigger nuisance at your location than tree rats, I mean squirrels.
Yes, but. Maryland is recognized as having too many deer for the habitat (mostly related to the sprawl you mentioned) and this year blue tongue and EHD has impacted the herd here in SoMD and Chronic Wasting Disease has shown u in Western Maryland (likely brought in form PA which has had a problem with it for several years).
These have seemingly cut the harvest this year and will help balance the herd. But, in a few years, they'll have a population boom and the cycle will repeat.
Yes, but. Maryland is recognized as having too many deer for the habitat (mostly related to the sprawl you mentioned) and this year blue tongue and EHD has impacted the herd here in SoMD and Chronic Wasting Disease has shown u in Western Maryland (likely brought in form PA which has had a problem with it for several years).
These have seemingly cut the harvest this year and will help balance the herd. But, in a few years, they'll have a population boom and the cycle will repeat.
Where I grew up in the 50s and 60s I could count 100 deer almost every evening in the fields across from my house. Ever since our State changed the hunting regulations and the coyotes moved in, you cannot find deer like back in those days when I was young.
Many blame the deer for overpopulating and then eating all the new growth. I think that man shares a large part of the responsibility for our destructive deer. Many years we were hit with acid rain and that did not improve until we started switching away from those coal fired electric plants. In some cases they installed scrubbers. Canada was complaining because we were killing their trees.
I live at around 1300 feet above sea level and my topsoil is very thin. There is very little limestone in the ground. So once we leached out the little bit of lime in the ground, out tress stopped growing. I had owned a property that was only 400 to 600 feet above sea level and there the new growth grew quickly. The topsoil was thicker and still contained limestone.
So, without quick growing new growth, the deer ate everything left. We can blame them, but when we look in the mirror, the real culprit is looking back.
That said, with the CWD spreading in my State, most of our deer will eventually have to be exterminated. Right now there is no known way to sterilize the soil from the contaminated deer feeding in that area.
Animal populations stabilize to food availability. Add more food, add more animals.
add more tics and fleas and Lyme disease
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