It's a Serious Health Problem for the Deer, and for Humans Too
How so; read the details below:
Many people are mortified to find out that by feeding deer their good intentions may have done more harm than good.
The root of this problem is that many people relate to deer as they relate to people. Seeing deer in the neighborhood during frigid temperatures, many of us imagine how we would feel, even though we are not deer ourselves.
They’ll Survive
White-tailed deer are well adapted to surviving during cold weather as well as year-round. They prepare in the summer and fall by eating more and adding layers of fat. When winter arrives, they become more sedentary, they eat less, and they use their stored fat. They have adequate supplies of natural food, including twigs, buds, and stems.
Those who feed large amounts of corn, especially in the winter, do the most damage because a deer's winter digestive system cannot handle a high carbohydrate diet such as corn.
Most Professional Wildlife Biologists Say Don’t Feed the Deer
Jerry Feaser, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) says: "In a perfect world, no one would feed deer. Period." Advice that is also shared by Dr. Anne Ballmann, veterinarian and wildlife disease specialist for the National Wildlife Health Center.
Furthermore, when we feed deer anything (not just corn), we cause them to burn extra calories to travel farther than they normally would. And they end up feeding and traveling together in larger groups. Dr. Ballmann warns that when deer feed in large groups competing for a limited food supply, they come in closer contact with one another and easily transmit diseases and parasites. If feeding locations are near busy roads (as they would be here in the village), more deer are hit and killed by traffic.
Remember that food is a deer magnet, with serious health hazards embedded for the deer, and for humans too (since the deer leave their large supply of ticks, which are infected with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease behind to bite humans). We already have a major problem with both tick-borne diseases in the village.
So here’s some advice collected on-line from a variety of professional wildlife biologists:
- If you’re offering day old bread and pastries, remember that although a variety of birds and mammals will eat these handouts, they just provide stomach-filling empty calories.
- Squirrels and birds are not ruminants, so corn does not affect their digestion the way it does deer.
- No one really knows how much corn is needed to induce metabolic acidosis in deer (a serious condition that occurs that produces excessive quantities of acid or when kidneys are not removing enough acid), but it occurs when they eat large amounts of corn and little or no "woody browse."
- In addition to eating what you're feeding them, deer will also eat the other vegetation that's in and near the feeding area. Too many deer eating vegetation in a small area can damage the plants in the area for years to come. When deer need those plants in coming years, the plants won't be there for them to eat.
- Even after winter is over, deer will often stay close to the area where you fed them instead of moving to their normal summer ranges. According to North Carolina State University, deer can cause significant damage to landscapes by browsing on a wide variety of plants, including trees, shrubs, and flowers, often leaving a ragged appearance due to their feeding habits; the most effective methods to manage deer issues in landscaping include selecting deer-resistant plants, utilizing fencing, applying repellents regularly, and monitoring access points to your property to deter deer entry; while no plant is completely deer-proof, choosing species that deer naturally dislike can significantly reduce damage.
The Bottom Line
Feeding deer is counter-intuitive. It's bad for deer, and bad for homeowners too. Feeding deer is primarily good for hunters, who use the food as bait.
