Resources

Below is a collection of resources containing information about caring for deer and forests.

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"White-Tailed Deer Issues" Lesson Plan Grade 9

Objectives of the Lesson: Describe the typical white-tailed deer in PA; Discuss the positive and negative impacts that white-tail deer have on the flora and fauna of PA; Explain the concept of managing a deer herd; Describe how abiotic and biotic factors can affect the size of a deer herd. Graph the result of the "Managing your Deer Herd" activity; Compare your results with your team and explain the differences observed; and Answer the questions at the end of the activity. This lesson plan was written and prepared by Barbara Neuburger, General McKlain High School.

"White-Tailed Deer: Beauty or Beast?" Lesson Plan Grades 10-12

Goals for the Lesson: Students will be familiar with the natural history and reproductive patterns of the white-tailed deer; Students will be able to list the favorite foods and most ideal habitat of the white-tailed deer; Students will be able to trace the history of the white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania and relate environmental changes to historical events which caused their numbers to increase to present levels; Students will be able to list attributes that have made the white-tailed deer a valuable resource and the negative factors that have caused conflicts with humans; Students will be able to compare and contrast biological carrying capacity and cultural carrying capacity; Students will be able to relate different types of habitat to the maximum sustainable densities of deer that each will support; Students will be able to rate several deer population control methods as to their effectiveness; and Students will be able to explain why white-tailed deer must be managed rather than allowing natural control methods to operate. This lesson plan was written and prepared by Allen D. McLaughlin, science teacher, Eisenhower High School, Russell, PA.

"Must We Shoot Bambi?" Lesson Plan Grades 3-4

Goals of the Lesson: Students will understand the role of hunting to control population of deer; Students will understand carrying capacity and the alternatives of disease and starvation for deer; Students will see the plant destruction caused by deer and car accidents causing deer and human death. This lesson plan was written by Barbara Neuburger, General McKlain Elementary School.

More Harm than Good: Here's why the New Hampshire Fish and Game urges you NOT to feed the deer

White-tailed deer in New Hampshire are at the northern limit of their range and have several natural adaptations that help them survive the winter. These include a thick winter coat of hollow hairs and the storage of fat in fall for later use during winter. Adult deer lose up to 20 percent of their body weight during winter, regardless of the amount or quality of food present. Adult deer get as much as 40 percent of their daily energy during winter from their fat tissue. This brochure was published by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

Managing White-tailed Deer in Forest Habitat From an Ecosystem Perspective

Deer play a role in ecosystems, particularly forests, in various ways including: (1) Herbivory or predation on the plants they use as food (2) Altering the physical habitat used by other animal species, plants, and other organisms in the ecosystem (3) Altering plant species composition, richness (diversity), forest structure (see box on page 34), ecological processes, and ecosystem function (4) Competing with other animals that use the same food resources (5) As prey, providing food for large predators Consequently, deer management has implications that go far beyond recreational hunting.

Growing and Managing Successful Food Plots for Wildlife in the Mid-South

Planting food plots is an excellent way to improve available nutrition, increase the carrying capacity and concentrate wildlife on your property. Food plots do not take the place of habitat management in general, but are intended to augment the quantity and quality of food occurring naturally in an area. Whenever habitat improvement is desired, other management practices (e.g., timber management, prescribed burning and discing) should be implemented as well. Food plot plantings should depend upon which wildlife species you want to attract and the seasonal requirements of those species. Not all wildlife species benefi t from all food plot plantings. Certain food plot mixtures provide benefi t to different wildlife species. For example, doves do not get much benefi t from a clover patch planted for white-tailed deer. This article was written by Craig A. Harper, Associate Professor, Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries at the University of Tennessee.

Deer Population Management through Hunting and Alternative Means of Control

On October 27, 1997, the Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Policy sponsored a conference, open to the public, to address a growing wildlife problem in Maryland and much of the country: too many white-tailed deer. Of course, whether or not there are indeed "too many" deer is just one subject fueling the sometimes contentious debate surrounding this adaptable creature. The purpose of the Center's conference was to bring together what is known about both the damage and benefits attributable to deer in Maryland, to assess the consequences of current trends in the deer population for agricultural damage, public health and safety, and the ecosystem, and to evaluate the pros and cons of policy alternatives available, drawing on the experience of communities already implementing deer management policies. Here we make available the proceedings of the conference, in the hope they'll be of assistance to those engaged in the management of this living natural resource. We welcome your comments. Please direct them to Lkoch@arec.umd.edu. If you would like to order a copy of the entire proceedings, please inquire at the same e-mail address.

"Deer Population" Lesson Plan Grade 9

Goals for the Lesson: The students will be able to estimate the deer population in a given area over a 5-year period; and The students will be able to suggest possible management tools to prevent overpopulation. This lesson plan was written and prepared by Robert Cooper, Wilmington Area School District.

Wanted: More Hunters

"The U.S. whitetail population is out of control. Not only are deer starving by the thousands, they're laying waste to entire ecosystems. There is only one solution." No species in North America has been more grotesquely mismanaged than deer. The mismanagement--ongoing--began with a crusade by the early settlers against cougars and wolves, the main predators of deer. This behavior flabbergasted the Indians. After much arguing and theorizing, they decided it was a symptom of insanity. This article was written by Ted William for Audubon.

Sunday Times: Problematic Charisma

There's a good piece in the current (Jul-Aug) issue of Audubon Magazine on the chronic White-tailed Deer overpopulation problem. Ted Williams points out what is obvious to most wildlife ecologists: that deer populations are allowed to grow until they destroy the ecosystems they depend on. Research is overwhelming and unequivocal: when deer are present in high densities, they alter the landscape so severely that plants disappear, some never to recover, setting off a chain reaction that echoes through the system, resulting in drastic reductions in biodiversity. For example, the article states: In Warren, Pennsylvania, a 10-year study by the U.S. Forest Service determined that at more than 20 deer per square mile, there is complete loss of cerulean warblers (on the Audubon WatchList as a species of global concern), yellow-billed cuckoos, indigo buntings, eastern wood pewees, and least flycatchers. ... In heavily settled parts of Pennsylvania, where hunting pressure is light or nonexistent, it's not unusual to have more than 75 deer per square mile. The only realistic way to control deer populations is with guns. Like it or not. This article was written by Susan Stout for Bootstrap Analysis: Chronicles and Musings of an Urban Field Ecologist.

Sunday Times: Impact of Deer on Forest Invertebrates

The December 2005 issue of the journal Conservation Biology has a paper on a topic near and dear to my heart (heh-heh): deer overpopulation. In case you missed previous installments, there was the overview of the ecological problems of too many deer, their impact on songbird populations, and how too many introduced deer actually extirpated black bears on an Canadian island. The current paper also examined islands in Canada, this time the Queen Charlotte Islands, BC. The authors looked at islands on which Sitka Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus sikensis) had been introduced for less than 20 years, more than 50 years, as well as deer-free islands. They sampled invertebrates at the forest edge and in the interior, in the litter and below the browse line. This article was written by Susan Stout for Bootstrap Analysis: Chronicle and Musings of an Urban Field Ecologists.

Public Menace

There's only one way to protect yourself, your family, and native ecosystems from the most dangerous and destructive wild animal in North America, an animal responsible for maiming and killing hundreds of humans each year, an animal that wipes out whole forests along with most of their fauna. You have to kill it with guns. This article was written by Ted Williams for Audubon.

Deer: Damage Prevention and Control Methods

Deer are probably the most widely distributed and best-recognized large mammals in North America. The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (Fig. 1) is found throughout much of North America. The mule deer (O. hemionus) is primarily a western species restricted to buttes, draws, and stream bottoms with sufficient forage. The black-tailed deer (O.h. columbianus) is a subspecies of the mule deer. Both white-tailed and mule deer are very important game animals. In 1974 about 2 million white-tailed deer were harvested by over 8 million hunters. The trend in both harvest and hunter numbers has been generally upward since then. The positive economic value of deer through license fees, meat, and hunter expenditures for equipment, food, and transportation can be measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. Hesselton and Hesselton (1982) estimated the value of each deer harvested in the United States to be $1,250. With the additional aesthetic value of deer to landowners and vacationers, importance of deer as a wildlife resource cannot be dispute. This article was written by Scott R. Craven and Scott E. Hygnstrom.

Ecosystem Restoration & Deer Management at Red Top Mountain State Park

White-tailed deer are an enjoyable sight of Red Top Mountain State Park. Visitors have traditionally valued the opportunity to view deer, other wildlife, wildflowers, and the natural beauty of the park. However, the park’s deer population has existed in unnaturally high numbers, resulting in over-browsing that is severely impacting plants needed by other wildlife. In fact, deer have damaged their environment so much that their own health is damaged. Additionally, these unnaturally high deer numbers impact the ability of the Parks & Historic Sites Division to fulfill its mission. As a result, DNR has partnered with the University of Georgia to study deer herd management at Red Top and to recommend a management approach that will ensure a health ecosystem and deer population. This is a publication of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Deer Eliminate Bears

Here's a startling update to the deer overpopulation thread. A paper in the latest issue of Conservation Biology described how Black Bears (Ursus americanus) have been extirpated from an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by the introduction of White-tailed Deer. This article was written by Susan Stout for Bootstrap Analysis: Chronicles and Musings of an Urban Field Ecologist.

People & Wildlife: Conflict Resolution Manuals

Practical manuals on non-lethal techniques to alleviate human-wildlife conflicts, targeted to various stakeholders and specific problems.

More Harm than Good: Here's why the New Hampshire Fish and Game urges you NOT to feed the deer

Feeding deer in the winter has become an increasingly popular activity here in New Hampshire and throughout the Northeast. For the most part, folks who feed deer care deeply about wildlife, enjoy watching deer in their backyards, and sincerely think they’re helping the deer by supplying food in the winter. Problem is, in most cases they’re probably not helping them in any measurable way. In fact, they may be harming deer in many ways. Ironically, this activity often makes deer more vulnerable to starvation, predation, disease, and vehicle collisions, among other things. Although the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has long held serious reservations about feeding deer, the harsh winter of 2000-2001 made it clear that the activity was making a bad situation even worse. This article was written by Kip Adams, Deer Project Leader, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and Darrell Covell, UNH Wildlife Extension Specialist.

Publications Sponsored by the Wildlife Damage Management Working Group

This website contains links to publications sponsored by the Wildlife Damage Management Working Group.

"White-Tailed Deer Issues" Lesson Plan Grade 9

Objectives of the Lesson: Describe the typical white-tailed deer in PA; Discuss the positive and negative impacts that white-tail deer have on the flora and fauna of PA; Explain the concept of managing a deer herd; Describe how abiotic and biotic factors can affect the size of a deer herd. Graph the result of the "Managing your Deer Herd" activity; Compare your results with your team and explain the differences observed; and Answer the questions at the end of the activity. This lesson plan was written and prepared by Barbara Neuburger, General McKlain High School.

Review of Available Management Techniques

When regulated hunting is not an option, nontraditional methods, such as the ones identified below, can be implemented to address overabundant deer populations. This author of this article is unknown.

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