Deer, what to do about them?

Deer...I know they're beautiful animals and I do enjoy watching them in my yard, but a State Trooper was killed by one a couple of weeks ago and I see them laying in the roads on a pretty consistent basis. What really disturbs me is that I see deer corpses a lot on I-287, a highway where going 70 is the usual speed. Imagine hitting one at that speed.

They're everywhere...and they panic easily. I was on my way to the library yesterday and saw a doe on a soccer field heading toward the road I was aiming at. I slowed down, the deer waited at the edge of the road and I waved it across (I know that sounds a bit unbelievable, but I've been stopping and waving them across roads for some time now). They look right at me as if to see what I'm gonna do. This one on the soccer field waited until I had stopped and waved at him then got in the middle of the street and panicked. It finally found whatever spot it was looking for and disappeared in the brush.

There might be some predation going on around here, I know we have a couple packs of coyotes wandering along the river, but I think of them as scavengers and I'm not sure they could pull down a full grown deer.

So, there are too many deer and not enough predators. Always a recipe for trouble. And the herds keep getting bigger and bigger.

In short, they create hazardous driving conditions and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. Anybody have any suggestions? It's even worse in the western areas of the state.

Rich

 

Can't hunt here in populated areas. Can't even shoot a gun in my town.

Rich

 

I've seen them on cars in the boonies, where the richest people live. And have the largest properties. The real problem seems to be that deer are fringe feeders and we keep creating fringes. I just checked out that link, think I'll buy three of them, just in case. Thanx.

Rich

 

If you get a chance take a look at Johnson Park in Piscataway, NJ. It runs along the Raritan River and the deer there are plentiful. I could see that park getting closed and bow hunters being given free range to kill them, but there are homes so close to the park and arrows do get misdirected. One miss, a kid gets hit with the arrow and that puts a stop to the bow hunting.

Rich

 

Friend of mine had a deer hit his car just down River Road from our house. The deer's head was in the car with him. Almost totaled the car. I wonder if my insurance works the same way as yours.

Rich

 

I agree. The deer seem to know it's safe for them here in town and we keep building, so that creates more fringes and that creates more deer. And the people keep pouring into town.

Rich

 

I agree, but how do you do that in an overpopulated area? Take a look at Piscataway on Google Earth and you'll see what I mean. To top it off, we also have a goose problem that isn't going away. That park I mentioned is beautiful and pretty wild but the geese have ruined it. Nice little pond where people used to fish in the park, but the geese have polluted it.

Rich

 

Yet one more thing that I didn't know. Thanx. At least I won't be shocked by that if I get a deer hit.

Rich

 

Used to live near a farm that had sheep and pigs, big sows. Long time ago, huge cars abounded, one sow kept getting loose and finally got hit by a car. Both the sow and the car were totaled. I saw the aftermath shortly after the incident. Car was in worse shape than the sow, but both were dead. I did walk into a pretty shaded part of the forest near Mt. Katahdin in central Maine and was confronted by a moose. Never want to go thru that experience again.

We are also getting more than usual reports about bears in the area. Another cheery thought. Used to work in northern NJ around Dover and I saw one on the highway. And another one near Aunt Kate's, a bar that stayed open until 5 in the morning. Seems like a regular thing around there. It's near Picatinny Arsenal.

Rich