Comments on: Deer Season

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:18:00 +0000

Motorcycle collides with deer, biker killed
Friday, July 16, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A motorcycle rider was killed early today in a collision with a deer in Salem, Westmoreland County, state police said.

The driver, William Mark Amos, 47, of Export, had been riding his bike at about 1 a.m., traveling north on Routh 819, when a deer crossed into his path about 100 yards south of Ridge Road.

The victim, who was not wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said.

State police are investigating.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10197/1073203-100.stm#ixzz0ttkS2rWS
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I knew William Mark Amos when he was a kid. http://tinyurl.com/325lolm

By: Peter Lusardi

Peter Lusardi — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:17:41 +0000

I would invite anybody who doubts the impact of deer on forest devastation to take a ride with me through the vast forests of northcentral Pennsylvania. There you will see mile after desolate square mile of forest with no understory other than ferns. In some places even the ferns haven’t survived and there is nothing but bare soil just waiting to be eroded into the nearby otherwise pristine streams. As we walk through the forest there will be no need for a trail since there is no brush to impede passage. Continuing on our journey we suddenly come to a tall fence erected by DCNR. Inside the fence are mature trees of the same age and species as outside the fence, but look: a beautiful understory of small trees, vines and brush, so thick that the area is all but impassable by foot. The only difference between the lush understory inside the fence and outside the fence is the exclusion of deer from the fenced area. What could be better proof that deer have destoyed our forest than that?

By: Lauren Conkle

Lauren Conkle — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:08:00 +0000

When I was a kid, it was a rare treat to see a deer in my yard. I can count on one hand the number of deer sightings I had throughout my entire childhood. Perhaps this is because deer back then had more habitat and didn’t need to go into people’s yards to find food; it’s hard to say.

Now, I see deer in my yard every day. Even more remarkable than that, when I try to shoo them away, they stand there and stare at me. All of the deer in my neighborhood have very little fear of humans, though I can’t recall one boldly walking toward me in the 16 years I’ve lived here. It seems unlikely to me that deer with a healthy fear of humans will walk toward a human; instead, they will run away, even though they have hooves and in some cases antlers to defend themselves. I have to agree, it would be highly unlikely for a deer to try to harm a human without any provocation, such as being shot at or cornered, but I still have a healthy respect for those hooves and antlers, and being approached by a deer would not make me happy.

By: Atia

Atia — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:57:03 +0000

Sometimes I wonder about people – what edactly does Kitty think the deer would have done to her mother, just walking down the street? Deer do not attack people! Just to point out that if deer were killed and the numbers were to go down temporarily, who is to say that any of the remaining deer couldn’t decide to take a walk down the street…….This is the most absurd argument for killing deer!

By: Kitty

Kitty — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:52:22 +0000

Everyone has a point of view on the topic of “deer season” and it truly depends on if you are a hunter, wildlife/game agency or farmer. Now, there’s the urbanite that has a point of view on deer season too. The hunter may have the point of view that there are not enough deer because of unsuccessful hunts. The wildlife/game agency point of view maybe that there is a balance in the deer population and the farmer may feel there are too many deer based on deer eating his crops. Unfortunately, urban areas are being affected by out of control deer population. The concern for urban communities is the destruction of their plant landscape and Lyme disease.
Until recently, I had no opinion either way on the subject of “deer season” but that has changed. One Sunday morning, my mother, who lives in the city, was on her way walking to church. My mother is a healthy but frail woman in her 70’s weighing about 100 pounds if that. Unfortunately, this particular Sunday morning she encountered a deer walking towards her. Frightened and not knowing what to do she started to climb a nearby fence and at that very moment a car was coming and saw what was going on and continuously blew his horn and pulled over to come to my mother’s rescue. Fortunately for my mother, the deer turned and went in another direction. Since then my opinion is hunters “get ‘er done” so urban areas can be free of deer and drivers can be safe travelling our highways.

Just another point of view.

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:58:01 +0000

Yes, this blog is moderated. Sadly there is just too much spam to allow unmoderated blogs these days.

Your comment was not posted until now because I did not login to this site between 5:00pm Wednesday and 8:45am Thursday.

There is one nice automated feature. The blog software allows my new entries to be published at a future date & time. I can therefore write something on Wednesday that is published on Thursday morning while I’m asleep.

By: Greer Ashton

Greer Ashton — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:13:38 +0000

This is not to be considered a comment for posting; however, since it is obvious that “someone”, perhaps even the lovely Ms. St. John, may be deciding on whose comment is included or not, “someone” will be reviewing this one as well, to see that it is not meant to be posted.

I posted a comment on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 6:16 PM
It is after 8 AM on Thursday, and my comment is still awaiting moderation….I have written neither heresy, pornography, slander, obscenity. anything incendiary – is my comment receiving undue consideration and/or censorship of some sort?
Why is my comment still not posted? I would like to know.

By: Greer Ashton

Greer Ashton — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:16:17 +0000

Anyone who is blaming deer for the disappearance of birds should stop and do a little research. It’s too convenient targeting deer when groups such as the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance, made up of town residents who have no special wildlife management knowledge or skills seem to have a one-track mind by recommending only one thing: Killing! They have never researched non-lethal means of deer population control, although it seems to be part of their mission statement on their website.

Many of the disappearing bird species migrate from South America where coffee plantations diplace them, 50% die during migration, and acid rain, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides and Global Warming contribute considerably.

I agree with Ms. St. John that there are many opinions on deer hunting, but that is not the issue. The issue is wrongfully blaming only deer for just about everything including hangnails because deer plolicies are set by wildlife agencies that work for hunters and hunting proponents; they refuse to accept peer-reviewed scientific studies that propose any non-lethal solutions and proof that killing deer is not the answer to everything..

Deer are a problem only when people hear nothing but scare tactics from the likes of the FCMDMA and state wildlife agencies whose livelihood relies on promoting hunting in order to collect hunting license fees; it’s a symbiotic relationship.

By: Lauren Conkle

Lauren Conkle — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:44:24 +0000

I agree with Kate that the deer population is a problem in some areas, including my own town. When driving through the local cemetery to look for birds, I can see the deer browse line is quite obvious, and deer will come right up to me when I stop to look at a bird, because people visit the cemetery to feed bread to the deer every day. We have to have a fence around our yard to keep the deer out or else they would eat all of our flower and vegetable gardens.

I don’t hate the deer, and I even feel sorry for them because they are losing habitat to houses and shopping malls, just like other wildlife. But, I enjoy seeing towhees and wood thrushes and hooded warblers in my neighborhood, so I have no problem with deer hunters. Too many deer in one area isn’t good for the deer, either.

And, I love watching pigeons.

By: Kate St. John

Kate St. John — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:19:44 +0000

As I said in my blog, there are as many opinions on deer hunting as there are deer. Above are two of the 1.5 million comments that any discussion of deer will elicit.

For answers to George Nagle’s questions, see past entries of my blog, especially:
http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/category/hiking/
and (read all of) http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/07/30/too-much-of-a-good-thing/