Deer culling

I saw a Doe yesterday running into the street on prospect street. Looked pretty spooked and nearly got hit by a car. Now I know why she was all alone and freaking out. There’s a family of deer that would always go into my friend’s yard on elmwood avenue and just lay down under the trees there. I always wondered what would happen to them when the county started back shooting them. It’s just sad really. I guess I’m older now and I hate hunting. I don’t know what the answer is. But how much is too much slaughter if these peaceful animals? 

https://patch.com/new-jersey/westorange/essex-county-hunters-kill-240-deer-first-cull-covid-pandemic

From another perspective, for those who eat meat, this is about as free-range as meat gets. And it goes to a good cause.

They were transported by the county to a New Jersey Department of Health-approved butcher for processing. Venison was donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside, which distributed the meat to the needy and homeless. This year, 4,405 pounds of venison were donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey to be given to less fortunate residents. Since 2008, a total of 51,480 pounds of venison have been donated to the FoodBank. Volunteer marksmen who completed at least seven half-day shifts of volunteer service received 40 pounds of venison.”

Its maddening. My yard is a safe haven for sometimes as many as 13 deer. This year a young one with a mangled leg is a regular. He rests it on the other one and at times puts it down to hobble along. I keep a fountain and bird baths full of water for them. The second picture is from another male with a crooked leg from a few years ago. Each year at least one doe gives birth in the wooded part of my property. She nuses for months and often shares the space with another doe. They usually have twins.

Morganna said:

Its maddening. My yard is a safe haven for sometimes as many as 13 deer. This year a young one with a mangled leg is a regular. He rests it on the other one and at times puts it down to hobble along. I keep a fountain and bird baths full of water for them. The second picture is from another male with a crooked leg from a few years ago. Each year at least one doe gives birth in the wooded part of my property. She nuses for months and often shares the space with another doe. They usually have twins.

thank goodness you have a big yard and you welcome them all. My yard is open so they won’t stay for any period of time. In Montclair there were hundreds of deer roaming around, now I haven’t seen any in the last two weeks. I’m up there almost every day. 
I honestly don’t know how people can derive pleasure from shooting peaceful animals. It’s maddening I agree.

My heart is with the deer but my head is with the culling, at least as it relates to the Reservation.  As I understood it, the uncontrolled deer population pre-culling would have destroyed the reservation eventually.  Anti-culling people talked about birth control shots (by dart I guess) but apparently it just doesn't work to control the population.  Yet whenever I see a deer there, post culling I'm like "You go boy/girl, keep running!"  

My go to response to any justification for killing an animal is always, "by what right." Of course its not a legal question as the law can always be used to argue almost any atrocity, its a moral question and each person has to look into their own heart to decide.

Love to watch the boys lock horns.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) give birth to fawns in May and June. By the Fall those fawns are ready to breed and frequently give birth to a singular progeny. By their second year the norm for does are twins. Year after year this happens and the population grows exponentially. Humans have greatly impacted deer habitats reducing their ability to forage over large areas. There are many more deer today than when the Europeans arrived on the shores of North America. At that time the forests of the Northeastern US were mostly in the mature stage which provides scant forage for deer. The early settlers cleared acres and acres of land for their use. These type of areas enabled deer to find more forage to eat and the population growth was impressive. The reduction of apex predators also helped their growth. Today the forests cannot support the huge amounts of deer that gain in numbers every year. The South Mountain Reservation is a good example of deer overpopulation with the result that the deer enjoy your hostas and other vegetation. The availability of a contraception vaccine has been proven to be fairly successful in small fairly contained local areas and it might actually work in the Reservation. I would like to see the county try this approach. However it is easier for the county to find hunters to cull the herd which has been happening for a couple of decades (although not every year.) In other areas like Pennsylvania where I have hunted for the last 50 years, the use of vaccines is not feasible due to the large areas of forests. Years ago it was often possible to find large numbers of dead deer in the Spring that had "yarded" up near water and died in the deep snow due to lack of food. The only way to control the herd in Pennsylvania is through selective culling. Selective culling means controlling the number of bucks and does that are harvested every year. Over 400,000 deer are harvested each year in Pennsylvania. So maybe someone should start a petition for Joe advocating for a trial of the deer vaccine. 

This is a comment not about the culling in the res, but about the deer population more generally. I live in the general Clinton School neighborhood - i.e. really not very close to the reservation. Each year there are more & more deer around here, and they are getting more & more fearless around humans. There was a herd on my front yard yesterday and it took a few "shoos!" to get them to clear away so I could get into my house. I would call them semi-domesticated at this point.

They don't really belong here. Apart from the damage to our plants, which is annoying, I think of issues like deer ticks / Lyme disease. I also worry about accidents involving deer - the OP on this thread mentioned an encounter on Prospect Street.

Obviously we're not going to be doing any culling in the deep suburbs. But is there any way to control their population? Does the culling in the res encourage them to go back there - I'm thinking probably not if they are established out here?

HatsOff said:

This is a comment not about the culling in the res, but about the deer population more generally. I live in the general Clinton School neighborhood - i.e. really not very close to the reservation. Each year there are more & more deer around here, and they are getting more & more fearless around humans. There was a herd on my front yard yesterday and it took a few "shoos!" to get them to clear away so I could get into my house. I would call them semi-domesticated at this point.

They don't really belong here. Apart from the damage to our plants, which is annoying, I think of issues like deer ticks / Lyme disease. I also worry about accidents involving deer - the OP on this thread mentioned an encounter on Prospect Street.

Obviously we're not going to be doing any culling in the deep suburbs. But is there any way to control their population? Does the culling in the res encourage them to go back there - I'm thinking probably not if they are established out here?

Probably the herd from Winchester Gardens.  

As for me, I look at the general attitude towards animals.

Here's a recent article from Candice Davenport of the Maplewood Health Department and also getting to lord over South Orange. Published in SOMA Living.

Bear in mind the thousands of hours and dollars trusting souls spent to TNR local cats and make them dependent on their feeders. Now residents in both Maplewood and South Orange had notes left on their doors. Threats made. 

Colony caretakers often regard those in charge with suspicion. It takes care and compassion to get someone to trust you with their cat, and a promise that you will spay and return it. I've watched tears in the eyes of more than one senior who made me promise not to hurt the animal and to bring it back. Phone calls at 6 AM that a cat had been caught but if I didn't get there quickly they would let it out because it was scared.

The ignorant statement at the end, that if you see a feral, call a local shelter, (didn't they close one?) and let them find a home for the feral is particularly rich.  Here's what Bide A Wee says about that.

Feral cats are not socialized to humans. They are timid and fearful around people and are not suited for adoption. Stray cats are lost or abandoned pets who may become feral or may be suitable for rescue and re-homing. Left unfixed, all of these community cats will breed prolifically. Because most of these cats are not suited to living indoors, bringing them to a shelter is not the humane answer. Taking them to a shelter also doesn’t solve the population problem — if cats are simply removed from an area, others will soon move in and breed. This is called the “Vacuum Effect.”

But nevertheless she persisted.

MAPLEWOOD HEALTH DPT. The US Department of Agriculture considers feral cats to be an invasive species. They pose a tremendous threat to native wildlife, including birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, but research indicates they are not effective in controlling other invasive species. In fact, cat “feeding stations” that are left out throughout the day attract unwanted rodents, raccoons, and other animals. Feral cats can contract and spread a wide variety of diseases and parasites to both people and other animals. Cats are the most common source of rabies in domestic animals. When people continue to leave food for them, they will come and bring more cats and other wild animals along with them. Maplewood and South Orange both have ordinances against feeding outdoor cats: Maplewood Township Ordinance 113-30 states: No person shall provide, permit or maintain to be permitted food to stray unlicensed cats. No food for cats, licensed or unlicensed, shall be placed outside a residence where a stray unlicensed cat may have access to the food. According to South Orange Township Ordinance 170-3: Feeding and/or sheltering of either stray or feral cats on any public or private property located within the Township of South Orange Village is prohibited. Despite the best of intentions, leaving food out for feral cats does more harm than good. The best thing to do is to not feed the cats. If you have feral cats in your neighborhood, you can call a local animal shelter for assistance on getting them adopted. Call the Maplewood Health Department at (973) 762-8120 for more information.

I don't know of any local animal shelters that will help Maplewood residents.
Maplewood authorities will tell you to call Bloomfied if there are any issues.  I don't consider Bloomfield to be local.

yahooyahoo said:

I don't know of any local animal shelters that will help Maplewood residents.
Maplewood authorities will tell you to call Bloomfied if there are any issues.  I don't consider Bloomfield to be local.

Bloomfield is providing animal control services but NOT shelter services.  At this time, Maplewood does not have a shelter services contract with any provider. 

Suggesting that feral cats can be "adopted" is a very strange thing to say. Feral kittens can be socialized of course. I have two former ferals in my house. But while adult feral cats can gradually be trained to be tolerant of human presence (kinda-sorta, depending on the individual), but few if any will ever be "pets." The statement displays an incredible lack of understanding of the issue.

I am still curious about what if anything can be done about the local deer over-population though. It's really getting out of hand and I truly worry about whether living in the suburbs in such density is good for the deer. Looking to feral cat management strategies - such as TNR, which works really well - seems problematic with such large animals.

HatsOff said:

Suggesting that feral cats can be "adopted" is a very strange thing to say. Feral kittens can be socialized of course. I have two former ferals in my house. But while adult feral cats can gradually be trained to be tolerant of human presence (kinda-sorta, depending on the individual), but few if any will ever be "pets." The statement displays an incredible lack of understanding of the issue.

I am still curious about what if anything can be done about the local deer over-population though. It's really getting out of hand and I truly worry about whether living in the suburbs in such density is good for the deer. Looking to feral cat management strategies - such as TNR, which works really well - seems problematic with such large animals.

I'm going to move this discussion to its own thread as I have hijacked the deer discussion.

I agree with the naivete of the suggestion of getting ;the feral cats adopted. I've chosen that word to describe Ms. Davenport's statement out of courtesy and a concern that my normal choice would get me kicked off MOL.

Here's a quote, have to check my source which may be Bide A Wee.

"Feral cats are not socialized to humans. They are timid and fearful around people and are not suited for adoption. Stray cats are lost or abandoned pets who may become feral or may be suitable for rescue and re-homing. Left unfixed, all of these community cats will breed prolifically. Because most of these cats are not suited to living indoors, bringing them to a shelter is not the humane answer. Taking them to a shelter also doesn’t solve the population problem — if cats are simply removed from an area, others will soon move in and breed. This is called the “Vacuum Effect.” "

As a 501C3 if I could get every feral cat a home I would and I only adopt cats to indoor only homes. As a TNR advocate I'm doing my best to help. Under the best Health Officer ever Bob Roe I used to TNR with my pals at Furry Hearts and will continue to help in South Orange. A feeding ban for TNRd cats is considered animal cruelty and according to the charges against a shelter by the South Orange Health Dept. violations are multiplied by the amount of animals effected. After 7 years of approved TNR in both towns, let's guess at the math.