The other day a co-worker complained about the hunting of deer in our area. She blamed the deer problems on “sprawl”, but I pointed out that the population of deer in our area is 6000% higher than it was 50 years ago, whereas the human population has only grown by about 15%.
This is due to Americans being weaned away from a hunting culture to one dependent on grocery stores. I recall rifles regularly lined up along the back wall of the church for the after-service group hunts. Now most Americans are so wussified they blanch at the very idea of “killing Bambi”.
Not enough people are hunting to keep the deer population down - especially since their natural predators have been practically wiped out. We have the responsibility to make up for those predators absence.
You were both right. Suburban sprawl, far from taking away deer habitat, creates virtually ideal habitat--lush greenery, shrubs, tasty flowers and vegetables, succulent young trees and bushes--far better than the treelines and fields they have been used to up until lately.