Posted on 03/19/2005 8:29:04 PM PST by neverdem
Forgive us if you are among the millions of gardeners, farmers, bird-watchers, drivers, fence builders, claims adjusters, body-shop operators, roadkill scrapers, 911 dispatchers, physical therapists and chiropractors who know this already.
White-tailed deer are a plague.
In their overwhelming abundance, they are prime examples of an ecosystem badly out of balance. They denude forests, making life impossible for vulnerable native plants and birds while allowing invasive species to thrive. While deer profoundly vex suburban gardeners, that annoyance pales next to the lethal danger they pose to drivers.
Now, even bird lovers want the deer subdued. The New Jersey Audubon Society, in a report last week, urged the consideration of lethal means to solve the problem, arguing that fencing, contraception and other gentle tactics have proved largely ineffective. The group wants the government to rethink conservation policies it says are intended to maximize herds for hunters, and to consider - especially in the suburbs, where hunting is too dangerous - bringing in sharpshooters.
It may sound harsh, even strange coming from an organization whose mission is to foster "environmental awareness and a conservation ethic." But the group - which does not speak for the National Audubon Society - has it exactly right.
Deer are simply heeding the biological imperative to go forth and multiply. With no natural predators, and the suburbs a year-round salad bar, they have slipped out of their ecological niche - and it's our fault, not theirs. The deer did not ask human beings to create the kind of predator-free suburban landscapes in which they now thrive. But the mountain lion, gray wolf and bobcat are not about to return, and the houses and highways are staying put. People, therefore, must own up to their place in a compromised food chain, and assume the responsibility for managing it well.
Unfortunately, deer contradict our innate assumption that only ugly creatures can be vermin. As the recent release of the "Bambi" DVD reminds us, they seem miscast as villains. But wise conservation means looking at the environment as a whole - from the smallest wildflower on forest floor to the biggest brown-eyed herbivore. The whole system - not just the prettiest mammals - needs protection.
I guess you never tried squirrel.
Two words. BOW HUNTING.
Dear neverdem,
Why, do rats taste like squirrels?
sitetest
I'll bet someone at the Times just ran into a deer with his Mercedes.
Rodents are rodents.
Now ya' did it! I'm hungry.......
While we're at it, let's turn them into housepets too! Put a leash on them, train them to catch a frisbee, and let them romp around the house with the kids.
Not a cute deer.
Cute deer.
Dear neverdem,
Are you speaking from direct experience, or just a surmise?
sitetest
No doubt, that's what I was thinking.
Wasn't the NY Times behind the animal rights activists some years ago when they called deer hunters murders, and lobbied for a reduction in deer hunting tags?
So, now they've reversed their opinion? What happened? Did the NY Times editors find that uncontrolled deer populations can ruin their lawns, and flower beds?
All of a sudden "Bambi" isn't so cute when they plow into one while driving on the Turnpike into NY City.
Deer must of got into the editoral writer's garden. Now only if we returned some of those cute, cuddly wolves to suburban New York . . .
The doe just appeared in my headlight, flying over a low stone wall by the side of the road. I centerpunched her before I even knew what was going on. Somehow I didn't wreck, but my right side exhaust pipe was flattenend, my front fender was missing, there was hair all around my headlight, and I still have the gas tank in my garage with a big soft dent in one side.
Just made venison cube steak and onions with brown gravy.
Yum yum.
MD has a 30+ bag limit, so my dad just told me.
C'mon over!....:))
I've only had squirrel, but I don't see why other members of the rodent family would be much different.
But God forbid, the herd should be thinned by hunters, I suppose.
Mmmmmmmmm .... more Bambi-burgers! All they have to do is declare a longer open season - and allow kills in urbanized areas w/crossbows, bow & arrow and big-bore airguns (there are now pre-charged airguns in .308, .44., .45., and .50 that can propel a bullet at subsonic velocities capable of taking down a whitetail at 200 yards and less).
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