There are more deer now than there ever were ... and a lot more than there should be. Moose, Elk, Caribou? No problem.
Upland game bird populations are cyclical depending upon the weather ... and yes on the pace of rural development.
Canada Geese? Pest Proportions
Black Bear? Zooming populations
Mountain Lions? Try having a picnic in the Santa Monica Mountains.
And if Dick Cheney really likes shooting lawyers, there sure ain't no shortage of them in these woods.
Please speak very slowly to Fawn. She/he is apparently one of those environmentalists who believe trees/animals/insects are in grave danger of those terrible human beans.
For some strange reason, we are being led down the "humans vs animals" road by a few nuts. (once again, no offense to anyone). It makes no difference how much land is encroached upon, if the animal population is not weeded out once in awhile, you have overgrazing of the available land, not to mention the breeding of inferior animals.
If this whole country was barren of human, there would STILL be wolves eating the slowest deer. There would be eagles and other birds eating the slowest rabbits. This country has ALWAYS had a plentiful amount of game, and it always will. And we are no more encroaching upon THEIR territory than any other civilization.
That's the way life is. And BTW, if ANYONE wants to adopt a couple of prairie dogs, I know a couple of places where you can get them free of charge. The little dears multiply faster than mice.