NATURE NOTE – Number 41 March 28, 2022
Introduction:
It’s spring time again and we will be seeing nature wake up from its long winter’s nap. With it comes excellent opportunity to see and experience a lot of nature. Since they are relative common and easy to see, let’s talk about today’s
Current Topic: White-tailed deer
Lots of folks have had deer experiences in some way. They hunt them, they have had a collision with one in their car, or they have cursed them for eating their flowers or plants in their garden or the bird seed right out of their bird feeder. I’m not going to deny the problems they cause. They, like the rest of us, have to eat, and there are simply too many deer in some areas. While hunting can keep the population in check in some areas, it doesn’t work in urban or built-up areas. Let’s discuss a few things about deer that you may not know, or that you may have not thought much about.
As for feeding, the March-April, and the August timeframes are among the worst months for deer to find food. In early spring the new shoots are not out yet for them to browse, and by August, most of the more tender vegetation that deer prefer to browse has matured to the point it is not attractive to the deer, and the much-dependent acorns (referred to as “mast” by hunters and wildlife people) are not yet on the ground. Also, some oak trees do not produce acorns each year. Many people think deer are grazers like cattle, but they much prefer the tender shoots and herbaceous (non-woody) plants found along the edge of the forest or field. They will graze, yes, but more often will browse on the preferred new growth of trees and shrubs. In many places with heavy deer populations, you can look into the forest and see the lack of branches up to the height that the deer can reach. This is because they have consumed this “low hanging fruit” of their favorite food.
During winter you might note that the deer you see are darker in color, with a black tint to their back and sides. This is a normal change they go through in the winter to blend in better with the darker trunks of the bare trees and evergreens of the forest. As spring approaches, they will return to their more common light brown or tan color.
Along with spring comes the birthing season for fawns. An important thing that can be pointed out to scouts, especially those living in suburban areas, is the common habit of females giving birth to their fawns in flower gardens and yards right in the middle of a neighborhood of homes. Every year calls come into 911 or animal control about an “abandoned” fawn found all hunkered down in a patch of Ivy or tulips in someone’s front yard. This does not represent an abandoned fawn, but rather the mother has left the fawn there while she goes foraging. The fawn may lie there for several hours in complete silence. If you find this situation, back-off and prevent pets or others from disturbing the fawn. The doe will almost always return to the fawn and lead it away to another site. Make sure your scouts understand this. Also note the color pattern of fawns. The spots seem to make them stand out, but if you see one in the edge of the forest where the sun is shining through the foliage, you will see that the white spots make perfect sense for that fawn to blend into the background.
A current problem that is affecting deer herds in some areas is something called CWD – chronic wasting disease. This is a horrible disease that is just now starting to show up in our area of Virginia. It is always fatal. Just like in human populations, the disease spreads more rapidly in crowded conditions, making it important to keep the size of deer herds in check. Many young people have been influenced by the anti-hunting crowd, and think shooting a deer is bad. Ask them if they would rather starve, die a slow death from CWD, or be shot. I think most of us would take the bullet. Something most scouts have never considered. Man is the only predator of deer in our area, so hunting is an important means of keeping the population under control, or within the “carrying capacity” of the area they live.
Opportunity:
Since deer are common, they can serve as an easy species to start a conversation with scouts about nature. Rather than just “look at the deer”, talk about the deer and how it fits into the rest of nature and the challenges we have in managing the human-wildlife interface in our modern society. Have a discussion about hunting. You don’t need to convince scouts that it is good or bad. Just make them think about it. And remind them not to disturb that fawn they may find in their front yard.
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