The Fence Post

A nuisance in the fields, gardens, highways...

It is common knowledge that deer have become a problem which seems to intensify every year.  Deer have been forced into closer contact with humans as their natural habitat has decreased. Also, the numbers of their main predators, wolves and cougars, have dwindled over the years. Hence, their population is on the rebound. As a result, deer have become not only a nuisance but also, in some situations, a threat to human life.

• Hungry deer invade gardens and areas with expensive plantings.
• The impact on agriculture - farms and orchards - is extensive and expensive.
• The USDA estimates that total deer damage from auto collisions and crop and timber losses
  reaches at least $1 billion a year
• Deer on the roads cause many accidents, often fatal to both deer and people.
• There are 1.5 million car accidents with deer each year, resulting in human fatalities, and personal injuries.
• When deer are present there is an increased risk to humans of Lyme disease spread by ticks.
• Deer overpopulation reduces the quality of habitat. The resulting lack of food can lead to unhealthy diseased deer.

The population increases have been in both urban and suburban areas. Forested areas have suffered, too. The over-browsing of the undergrowth of trees robs birds of habitat and disrupts new growth of trees: disrupting seedlings, buds, while the rubbing of antlers on trees can destroy them completely.

It's not always straightforward. A few possible means of control are:

      Exclusion  

• Deer and wildlife fence barriers
• Individual trees and plants protection
• Plants deer dislike                                                                                                                                             

      Deterrents                                                                                                                                                               

• Devices to scare deer with sound or visual stimuli
• Dogs
• Repellents using odors deer dislike                                                                                                                   

      Population management                                                                                                                                       

• Hunting
• Culling - thinning out weak unhealthy animals
• Fertility control

What do you think is the best solution for your particular deer problem?

Is there one solution that can address every situation? Is inaction the better strategy?