Community Chat

[debic]

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@mstyrion 1 wrote:

It's sad that the deer over-population problem is a completely man-made problem.

We've destroyed or driven out the predators who kept prey animal populations under control.  

I suspect those states, like PA and W VA mentioned here, have no  or few natural predators left.

I would love to see more natural controls of deer populations put into place. We've messed up the food chain. We should fix what we've broken.

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LOL, have you ever been anywhere where they've reintroduced wolves?   They go for easiest kills, deer are not it.  Cattle, sheep, dogs are.  It's not really a fixable thing short of humans stop breeding or leaving the planet.

I believe wild meat is better than 'farmed' meat.   I have a friend with MS and she said she feels better when she only eats it.  Said she did a lot of research on it.  

[ID2]

Yes, I don't like hunting but I certainly agree with the fact that we definitely need to control the deer population. We have had two deer collisions with our vehicles. Thankfully the only fatalities were the deer. But if given the choice of bow hunting or firearms I vote for firearms. At least it's instant and painless. I had a friend that was an avid bow hunter. She told me that how they did it was they'd shoot the deer with an arrow and follow the blood trail the next day for the deceased deer. So that means the deer suffered a very painful and horrible death. Notice how I said that I had a friend that did this. I just think its horrific to put an animal through such a horrible death.

[mstyrion 1]

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@debic wrote:

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@mstyrion 1 wrote:

It's sad that the deer over-population problem is a completely man-made problem.

We've destroyed or driven out the predators who kept prey animal populations under control.  

I suspect those states, like PA and W VA mentioned here, have no  or few natural predators left.

I would love to see more natural controls of deer populations put into place. We've messed up the food chain. We should fix what we've broken.

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LOL, have you ever been anywhere where they've reintroduced wolves?   They go for easiest kills, deer are not it.  Cattle, sheep, dogs are.  It's not really a fixable thing short of humans stop breeding or leaving the planet.

I believe wild meat is better than 'farmed' meat.   I have a friend with MS and she said she feels better when she only eats it.  Said she did a lot of research on it.  

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LOL. Yes, I have. 

Why do states who have not eliminated predators have little of the deer over-population issues being discussed?  

I don't eat much meat any more, but I never cared  much for the taste of venison.

[Puzzle Piece]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I hate this time of year because the overly-sympathetic come out of tthe woodwork bemoaning but refusing to understand that the deer population must be culled so they don't all starve.  We simply cannot have unchecked populations of deer eating crops and menacing our highways.  I love to see them too as they're beautiful but they can rapidly get out of hand.  There simply is not enough space or forage for all of them.

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There's another way to look at this.  Maybe it's the growing populace of people that are taking up the spaces.  Maybe population zero growth would help.

[debic]

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@Puzzle Piece wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

I hate this time of year because the overly-sympathetic come out of tthe woodwork bemoaning but refusing to understand that the deer population must be culled so they don't all starve.  We simply cannot have unchecked populations of deer eating crops and menacing our highways.  I love to see them too as they're beautiful but they can rapidly get out of hand.  There simply is not enough space or forage for all of them.

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There's another way to look at this.  Maybe it's the growing populace of people that are taking up the spaces.  Maybe population zero growth would help.

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LOL, I'd like to see that enforced.  Even China is raising their one child to two.

[debic]

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@mstyrion 1 wrote:

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@debic wrote:

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@mstyrion 1 wrote:

It's sad that the deer over-population problem is a completely man-made problem.

We've destroyed or driven out the predators who kept prey animal populations under control.  

I suspect those states, like PA and W VA mentioned here, have no  or few natural predators left.

I would love to see more natural controls of deer populations put into place. We've messed up the food chain. We should fix what we've broken.

---

LOL, have you ever been anywhere where they've reintroduced wolves?   They go for easiest kills, deer are not it.  Cattle, sheep, dogs are.  It's not really a fixable thing short of humans stop breeding or leaving the planet.

I believe wild meat is better than 'farmed' meat.   I have a friend with MS and she said she feels better when she only eats it.  Said she did a lot of research on it.  

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__________________________________________________________

LOL. Yes, I have. 

Why do states who have not eliminated predators have little of the deer over-population issues being discussed?  

I don't eat much meat any more, but I never cared  much for the taste of venison.

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I'm here!  LOL    I don't know where everyone is from so I (or you) have no idea if they are here discussing it or not.

[debic]

Not sure why this deer video is sideways, I couldn't get it to rotate either.

My front yard with the neighbors dog barking.  LOL

595246947-video.mp4

[RedTop]

Actually, WV does have several natural predators living in this state.  One of the jobs of the Dept of Natural Resources is to count and study the animals in each county, which is how they project the animal population, and do what needs to be done as far as predator control.   WV has a wide mix of animals in our woods and forests; bear, deer, fox, bobcat, squirrels, raccoon, opossum, etc.  Panther sightings have been reported all around this state for as long as I can remember, and my husband actually saw a black panther near his home in the early 1970's.   In recent years, the DNR has "balanced" our local environment with more bear, coyotes, wolves, and timber rattlers.  Now the coyote population has become a nuisance problem for farmers, and more and more coyotes are being hit by cars on the highway, as they move into populated areas looking for food.  One of the relocated black bears sauntered thru my backyard more than 15 years ago; a beautiful animal, about 400 lbs with a tag in his left ear.   That bear is still seen around this area.  

My dad hunted for squirrel, rabbit and deer to feed our family in the 50's and 60's.   When he hunted for deer, he disappeared into the woods on the farm, and we would listen for him to shoot.  We rarely ever saw a deer back then, as they never seemed to come out into the daylight like they do now.   Deer did not start getting into our gardens until the early 70's, and by then we were seeing them everywhere.   

I do not believe urban sprawl is responsible for the deer issue in WV.   Our local housing growth is coming from families selling off their farmland, not developers cutting into the side of a mountain to create a new housing development.  This state is a mix of sprawling farmland, and thick, wooded mountain ranges.   When I walk out of my house and look up in any direction, I have tall mountains surrounding me on all sides that are covered in billions, and billions of trees.  Anywhere you drive in this state, you will see mountains and trees.  We absolutely have the natural habitat to support these wild animals, until the population explodes to the point we have more deer per acreage than can be sustained in that area.   We do not want deer wasting disease to become a major issue here, which is helped tremendously with an aggressive hunting season.  Sadly, this county only allows doe season every 5 years or so, which is why my immediate area stays overrun with deer.  I personally would like to see doe season allowed every other year.   

[debic]

One of the best pics I've taken.

Moose are always full of cockleburrs.

Baby out my door.

biggest moose I ever say.  That's a huge wheelbarrow, and a 3' fence.

[jaxs mom]

Here's some info on the problem with the feral hog population in Texas. 

Counties are posting and increasing bounties on feral hogs as they grub their way through fields, gardens, even lawns, pressing their search for food closer to urban areas and carrying disease and parasites with them.

Hays and Caldwell counties in Central Texas are offering a $5 bounty for each member of the non-native invasive species bagged by hunters, up $2 from last year, the Austin American-Statesman reported in its Saturday edition. Bastrop County is offering a $5 bounty for the first time.

Texas has the nation's largest feral hog population, with nearly 2.6 million pigs counted in June. Experts blame the animals for about $500 million in statewide damage, including $52 million a year to agriculture and hundreds of millions in torn up lawns, gardens, golf courses and buried cables and Internet lines.

And they are such prolific breeders that their population continues to build by about 20 percent annually, despite hunters taking about 750,000 from the population each year. So if reducing their numbers is an exercise in futility, the best that can be hoped for is to clear areas through maintenance hunts, Ortiz said.