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We're just going to try to reduce their numbers," said Bowman. In addition to the help from Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Bowman said that they would not be able to do their research without the help and support from the private land owners. Scientists on Tuesday revealed the "highly unusual" behaviour of a male monkey filmed trying to have sex with female deer in Japan—a rare case of inter-species nookie. Endangered deer in the Florida Keys are no longer receiving anti-parasite medication to protect against flesh-eating screwworms.

Wild deer in Britain should be hunted for venison to drastically reduce their populations and support the re-emergence of our native woodland birds, according to an academic at The University of Nottingham. Overabundant deer can spell trouble for people, including frequent car collisions and the spread of zoonotic diseases. But deer can also disrupt wildlife communities—such as forest songbirds—by eating away their habitat.

California wildlife officials in say an invasion of aggressive lice is causing deer across the state to go bald and is linked to numerous deer deaths. A rare herd of ghostly white deer that multiplied at a World War II weapons depot under the protection of the U.

Army is now being nurtured by the site's new owner. A team of scientists has developed a method that yields, for the first time, visualization of a gene amplifications and deletions known as copy number variants in single cells. When it comes to flirting, animals know how to put on a show. In the bird world, males often go to great lengths to attract female attention, like peacocks shaking their tail feathers and manakins performing complex dance It may seem like one of the cruelest aspects of the natural world, but research has shown that infanticide is actually an instinctive behavior in many animals—and Catherine Dulac has begun deciphering the chemical and other So, while one to eight is clearly an unnatural result of human mismanagement, one to one, as a natural state, seems a bit off as well.

Sorry if I go on. Deer usually arrive at nusance status in suburban areas, where roads are heavily trafficked and lawns a precious, and where hunting can not be practiced. Meanwhile, hunting is still practiced much more vigorously in rural areas. Thank you for all the research you do! It really helps the vegan movement.

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Firstly you say that nature will control the population. Yes nature controls populations through disease from overcrowding, starvation during bad conditions and predation from animals such as coyotes, wolves, cougars etc. Now with lack of these large predators in many areas that leaves disease and starvation. See diseases such as chronic wasting and blue tongue. They are terrible and suffering diseases. Now when droughts hit and food supplies become scarce then starvation kills with no discrimination, does miscarry, young deer starve along with the adults the population suffers.

Then we get to the human factor and risk of a unmanaged population. The rate of car collisions will rise putting lives at risk during times when the deer are plentiful, the overgraze crops that support the human diet as well.

Now getting to the misunderstanding that we as humans are not part of the natural world is completely false. We have modified the natural habitat more than any other organism that has ever existed so are we not the driving force behind the habitats these animals call home over a large portion of this rock we call earth? Not necessarily for the better either. We are not content with the supportive system that the modern world constructs for us. Is hunting for everyone, no and I respect that but really do your research before jumping to the conclusion that population control is not a valid reason behind hunting.

Yes hunters want populations of game to be plentiful but they also want the game to be healthy as well. Thank you so much for this Emily. I recently went back to school, to study wildlife care to hopefully be a wildlife rehaber someday, or have more experience to work at a farm animal sanctuary. I will definitely be using your information, as well as doing some more primary source research, to increase my vegan arsenal. SO glad to hear this is helpful. And appreciate the additional info!

Many thanks and all the best with your studies! Feel free to share more anytime. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Has it happened yet?

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Example from the Minnesota DNR. See ya next nugget! I'm interested in volunteering. Robert on December 10, at 3: Thanks for this informative post. Anthony on December 10, at 4: Never was great at maths in school! Garald Rivers on December 11, at 1: Your local biologist or wildlife consultant can help you to figure out a number that you feel comfortable with that will maximize the potential of your herd. You may be wondering what the benefits of harvesting antlerless deer early in the season are, and there are probably more than you realized. Many gamekeepers and deer management experts have invested huge amounts of time and money into food plots and mast-producing trees that are strategically situated across their property.

Doe harvest can have a big impact on your bottom line. Harvesting the number of does on your hit list for the year early during the hunting season has a number of advantages. It saves you money, leaves more resources for the remainder of the herd and takes stress off of the bucks resulting in better antlers the following season.


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Now think about how many times those does visited your food plots and how many tons of resources they consumed throughout the season at your expense and at the expense of the rest of the herd. These resources are valuable to all deer within the herd. Bucks use the minerals and nutrients for antler growth, skeletal development and to build reserves to survive the winter while does use them for lactation, fetal development and also survival. A mineral deficiency will affect the quantity of milk produced for the does. Milk production is the most physiologically demanding state for does and an essential component of fawn recruitment.

Therefore, it should be an important deer management consideration. Your food plots are not the only type of forage that can be damaged by a high deer density.

The White Deer of the Seneca Army Depot

Deer can deplete the natural resources available to them in a short amount of time. There are many important types of native forages available to your herd. Hard mast crops such as white and red oaks, soft mast crops such as persimmons and apples, herbaceous plants such as pokeweed and shrubs such as beautyberry are just a few that whitetails will utilize. Only a certain amount of native forage is produced per year and removing does earlier in the season will result in more food left for the herd through the winter.

Where the problem exists, one can usually be seen essentially anywhere the deer can reach something remotely palatable from the forest floor through the shrub layer. Browse lines on your property are an indication that your doe harvests need to be taken care of immediately.

High deer densities can be detrimental to their habitat, which not only affects the deer, but also other coexisting wildlife. This is very important because it not only shapes the near term, but habitat degradation can be so severe that it changes the flora makeup forever. Early season doe harvest coupled with the supplementation of their natural diet via food plots and timber management is a great way to prevent this from ever becoming an issue. In order for this to happen, only the does that you wish to leave in your herd should be around when the breeding occurs.

Results vary from area to area and in some studies it showed high predator densities still resulted in a high fawn mortality , but in other instances it seemed to work in favor of fawn recruitment. Will it work on your property? This gives land managers even more incentive to tag their antlerless deer early, especially if the predator density is higher in your area. Harvesting the adequate amount of antlerless deer can also positively affect the bucks. The rut is the time of year that hunters cannot wait for…and who can blame them?

Deer Management The Importance of Harvesting Does Early | Mossy Oak

Bucks driven by raging levels of testosterone spend hours cruising for does haphazardly, not paying any mind to that guy up a tree 20 yards away. A prolonged rut can result in weeks of breeding opportunities instead of a short, intense, synchronized rut, making it difficult for hunters to figure out what phase of the rut they are currently observing and how they should hunt it. It is common for a buck to spend hours following a female in estrus so he is indeed present when the time is right.

During this process he exerts a tremendous amount of energy. If a bred doe is harvested later in the season that breeding buck was robbed of the energy he used pursuing and tending that doe — it was all for naught.

Gardening for Deer

The does that will ultimately be harvested are consuming resources all season long. Those resources are needed to help the remaining herd make it through the winter. This is more of a concern in the northern states than in the South due to more severe winters and the lack of quality forage during these months.