24-07-2003, 03:22 PM
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Deer here
(dstvns) wrote:
Even human hunters are distorting the population, taking the strongest
and leaving the weakest (inverse-darwinism). Introducing wildcats or
cougars back to the environment is out of the question, since they
cannot be trained to avoid adults as well as children.
In Pennsylvania, the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, herd has
gotten so overwhelming that doe and small bucks are being harvested than
bucks. Hunters usually aren't very selective. Hunters harvested 5 deer
from our property (10 acres) last fall and they didn't even make a dent
in the local number of deer. Each year hunters harvest about 500,000
deer in Pennsylvania (165,000 antlered and 350,000 antlerless).
Predators kill about 120,000 each year and automobiles kill about 30,000
each year in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania has about 3,500 wildcat or bobcat (Lynx Rufus) and a few
Canada lynx (Lynx Canadensis), but they don't have a very large impact
on the deer population. Since food for the wildcat is so plentiful,
they don't bother man.
Fortunately we have the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the gray fox
(urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the eastern coyote (Canis latrans) also.
On the down side, these and other mammals help spread ticks. Perhaps
the deer is the worst offender in spreading ticks.
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