Don’t Feed the Deer!
 

For some home gardeners and home owners deer are a wonderful species of wildlife that they want to see frequently near their home.  We live in a state that is known for its large deer population and want to see them frolicking in our back yard.  To encourage more deer sightings some people start feeding deer grain in the fall.  Unfortunately the folks at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) know that this act can have detrimental affects on the deer in the immediate area.  For years IF&W have tried to discourage people from feeding grain to the deer. 

Why?  It changes the microorganisms in their stomach so the deer can’t digest their usual winter diet as well.  They usually browse on tree branches in the winter. Also, feeding grain causes a large number of deer to congregate around the home of the feeder.  They are more susceptible to disease and traffic fatalities.  One year on a one mile stretch of road that I traveled frequently the game wardens said they had cleared over 100 dead deer from the road.  That didn’t include the injured deer that ran farther away from the road to die.  This was because a large herd of deer were moving daily between two homes that folks were putting out grain for them. Please don’t feed the deer grain!

If you want to help the deer through the winter and you have a wood lot consider cutting a few cedar trees down for them to browse.  You could cut hardwood trees down this winter to start on your firewood needs for next winter.  The tops will provide food for the deer.