Zep wrote: 

I don't understand the groups that try to block herd cullings. The deer in this part of the world *mid-Atlantic* are beyond thick. I've killed 2 in the past 6 years with my vehicle and I've had numerous near misses. If we don't thin the herds, many die from starvation, a death much slower than the action of a sniper. Part of the problem is a shrinking woodlands so deer are forced more and more into neighborhoods. Where I live it's still very wooded but with mostly mild winters the past few years and good growing seasons during the summers, does are dropping twins, not uncommon, but if stressed by circumstances, doe might drop only a single offspring or none at all.

 helenofjoy wrote: 

I hope if snipers are used, the downed deer are donated to soup kitchens. I can't imagine not doing that.

 hippiechick wrote: 

The current plan calls for snipers to cull the herd and then have those same snipers use darts containing birth control drugs on does. One of the interesting questions: what does the land look like with fewer deer? Until the deer population exploded, the park was fairly thick with growth. Is that a natural state? What is the natural state? That's impossible to say in this setting because the deer are not confronted with a natural predator *wolves, for example*. The only current predator is the automobile, which kills approx. 40 deer a year.

 hippiechick wrote: 

Could always eat them.  Mighty tasty and nutritious too.  I'm just sayin'  

 musik_knut wrote: 
Can't they give these deer birth control? Seriously, I'm not kidding.

A thousand pardons if such a thread already exists...?



I read an interesting article on the deer population in Rock Creek Park *Washington, DC* in the latest edition of National Wildlife Federation. Our hooved friends are out of control.