Oh come on. The reason we thin the herd is because thousands of deer would starve to death in the winter snow.
I wouldn’t worry to much about them starving around here in southern NH. There are hundreds of stupid suburban women who intentionally feed them. Even though Fish & Game(North Woods Law) says not to. Then there are the ones who feed the birds and the deer eat the dropped sunflower seeds.
One of them happens to be my mother in law.
I am NOT allowed to mention my most recent deer harvest at Thanksgiving dinner this week.
There used to be a rich lady about a mile way who fed the turkeys in the winter. She used to put out about ten pounds a day.
She bought bird seed by the pallet. We called her house the “turkey farm” because some winters there would be a hundred wild turkeys hanging around their house. They lived in what is probably a $2MM house/estate property(house, barn, tennis court, pool, 50+ acres, 1000 feet of road frontage).
“The reason we thin the herd is because thousands of deer would starve to death in the winter snow.”
True, though it is still a sad situation. I got to know the deer around me, and it is shocking how human they are, personality wise. They even show appreciation if you do something nice for them. Here is a video of one kissing me, in return for giving it an apple. That is a sentient animal showing appreciation for something it knew I did not have to do:
https://rumble.com/v6zx0wm-deer-are-more-human-than-you-think.html
You look at that matriarch, and she looks like any mother at a kid’s birthday party.
You can talk to them by miming, and I have even had them ask me to do stuff by miming to me. One baby which wanted to eat with mom, but felt I was too close to the pile, actually pushed its nose at me, and swung it over at the house, twice, emphatically, clearly saying, “You - you go in the house all the time, just go inside, so I can go to my mom’s pile next to you, and eat. You - go inside!” I did, and as I looked over my shoulder going inside, it looked so satisfied as it walked up to mom. They communicate with each other far more than you would think.
I have seen moms who felt a threat was approaching their baby run to get the attention of the threat, so it would go after them, and I have seen a doe who lost a baby to a car accident consoled by another member of the herd, who would kiss it all over to show it love. It was very human.
It is weird to see such nice, intelligent animals harmed, but as you say, nature is not kind to them, sadly. Honestly, I feel like they deserve a lot better lives than most of the people I have crossed paths with. Very noble, in their own way.