Community Corner

20 Things You May Not Have Known About Deer

There are between 85,000 to 95,000 deer in Massachusetts.

By Les Masterson

Deer appear to be everywhere in town lately. Several incidents of deer being hit have been reported in the Stoughton Police Log.

Residents report of deer feasting on plants in backyards. Deer are spotted roaming along main roads. There have also been an increased number of car accidents involving deer over the past couple of weeks.

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Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs estimates there are 85,000 to 95,000 deer statewide.

The combination of the colder weather and hunting season means we'll soon start seeing fewer deer. We’re in the middle of archery deer season in Massachusetts. It runs from Oct. 21-Nov. 30. Shotgun deer season is Dec. 2-14 and blackpowder deer season is Dec. 16-31.

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More than 11,000 deer were killed during last year’s hunting season, according to Outdoor Life. 

As deer make their presence known, let’s take a look atsome facts from the Mass Audubon about deer to help us coexist with these animals:

 

1. The deer that you see are likely white-tailed deer and their population has skyrocketed across Masssachusetts.

2. Deer population has increased because of reforesting coupled with the suburbanized Massachusetts landscape is ideal deer habitat. Reforesting in the suburbs provides shelter and breeding areas in woodlands, but the burbs also have open areas where deer prefer to eat. Deer love to feast on ornamental shrubbery that can be found in many yards. Predators have also dwindled as hunting has lost popularity in developed areas.

3. White-tailed deer belong to same family of ungulate (hoofed) mammals as pigs, cows, antelopes, sheep, goats, camels and hippos.

4. Deer have excellent hearing thanks to large, sensitive ears. Its short tail stands erect when alarmed.

5. The typical adult male (called a buck) is 100 to 250 pounds and a shoulder height of 3-and-a-half to 4 feet. Mature males’ antlers have a main branch of 30 inches long. Does are smaller and weigh between 70 to 150 pounds.

6. Deer prefer forest-edges where they can forage for food, and woodlands, where they can find shelter and breed. They like to visit ponds, lakes and streams. What this means is Massachusetts is an ideal deer habitat.

7. They feed mostly at dawn and dusk.

8. Deer home range is usually two to three square miles.

9. Deer are herbivores and they eat a variety of plants. They like buds, leaves and tender shoots of woody plants, as well as berries, fruit and grains. They additionally like acorns and other nuts, barks and mushrooms.

10. The mating season is in November and early December. During the rest of the year, the males and females live in separate groups. In August and September, male groups disband to look for females.

11. Most fawns are born in May or June after a 200-day gestation period. First-time doe mothers usually produce one offspring, but then give birth to two or even three in subsequent years.

12. Fawns are left alone during the first week of life except when the mother returns to nurse. To protect themselves, fawns lie motionless in leaves, which camouflage them. By the following spring, the fawn has turned into a yearling and stays in the area and returns to the mother for the fall and winter. They leave the mother for good the following spring with the bucks going with other males and does heading off with females.

13. The best long-term solution to keep deer off your property is fencing that is at least eight feet high and angled outward from the property to prevent deer from jumping over the fence. The fence should include heavy netting, fox wire, chicken wire or rows with wire spaces 12 inches apart.

14. If you only want to protect certain plants, place 6-foot stakes around the plants and wrap with chicken wire, bird netting or burlap.

15. You can also spray deer repellants on plants and shrubs to protect them from munching deer. Two types of repellent are Big Game Repellent and Hinder.

16. Another solution some people use is hanging bars of soap on shrub branches. Dial and Irish Spring seem to work best. Cut the bars of soap in halves or thirds and use mesh bags to hang them on branches three feet apart.

17. People should not feed deer. It’s dangerous for them to cross streets and can cause traffic accidents. Deer will eat what is offered them and should not eat things other than woody plants.

18. One biggest problem associated with deer is Lyme Disease, which is an issue especially in the spring. Northern deer ticks, which transmit Lyme Disease, feed on deer, mice, birds, dogs and sometimes humans.

19. People who see fawns alone should not think they were orphaned. One common mistake is when people remove fawns from the area (and their mothers) thinking that they were orphaned. This leads to thousands of fawns being orphaned and needing to be euthanized.  Relocating wildlife is illegal in Massachusetts.

20. There are about 2,000 to 3,000 deer-related car accidents in Massachusetts annually. Only 400 to 600 are actually claimed by the driver or passenger.

 For even more information about deer, check out the Mass Audubon’s page about white-tailed deer.



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