The area I grew up in Michigan, was pretty well hunted out of deer from the 1950's into the later 1980's. The area was overhunted, the local farmers thought the deer destroyed crops, and there were diseases transmittable between deer a cows that the farmers wanted to avoid. Hence there was probably some out of season population control. I never saw deer on the 80 acres that was home, rarely saw them in the surrounding area.
On rare occasions we visited northern Michigan, very rural area north of Saginaw Bay, and there were always deer to be seen. Sometimes only a few, sometimes large herds. The area had more woodlands, and fewer farmers, and was far enough away from the population centers to have a much more dense deer population.
Hunting declined in the late 80's early 90's and when I visited the farm I would often see one or two deer. In some areas the population exploded to the point of being a nuisance.
Where I live here in the DC suburbs, we are on a 35 acre hilltop with 4 high rise towers surrounded by heavily wooded ravines. We have deer inside our fence most summers.
Seeing Deer still makes me stop, and marvel.
The deer abound here. They come down from the lake at night and on any given night there are at least a dozen milling around.
ReplyDeleteNice
DeleteThey are not a wild animal you can get anywhere near unless perhaps you feed them. They are a terrible pest here and regularly hunted to control numbers.
ReplyDeleteIn the middle of the USA I think cars kill more deer than hunters
DeleteWe get them in the yard every so often; graceful creatures.
ReplyDeletethey always seem nervous but peaceful
DeleteThey are beautiful creatures but can be a real hazard on highways.
ReplyDeleteMy sister hit a couple of them, and she hit a cow - an all white cow in the road, in a snow storm.
DeleteNo dear in central Michigan; deer 8 mi. from Washington DC. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteFewer hunters here
DeleteWe are less rural than some places but have plenty of deer, geese, a few turkeys, and even an occasional bear wandering the streets and fields.
ReplyDeleteSassybear
www.idleeyesandadormy.com
Bears in there natural habitat, indoor and outdoor ones
DeleteThey are such beautiful animals. I would marvel at them too!
ReplyDeleteI don’t see them often enough
DeleteWe had deer regularly on our property in Connecticut and loved them... except they were known for transporting the ticks that carried Lyme Disease. A friend from our town was traveling in Colorado when someone asked about the Lyme Disease problem. Someone else chimed in, “Oh it’s terrible. You get it when a deer bites you!”
ReplyDeleteA bite of a different kind
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