Deer As Ecological Disaster in the Making?

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I placed this spike buck skull up on the trunk as a goof. Mountain leaped up to investigate, but was more captivated by the smells going up the right fork than the dead deer skull on the left. Farms are littered with deer skulls and carcasses this time of year -- and millions of deer footprints as well.

The New York Times of March 14th reports that New Jersey's surging deer population has eaten through so much of the state's forest that the New Jersey Audubon Society is advocating hunting to help prevent deforestation from leading to the extinction of various species of birds.

"Suburban sprawl has led to a significant increase in the size of the white-tailed deer herd, by providing shrubbery and other vegetation for deer to feed on during the once-fallow winter months. The state Department of Environmental Protection estimates that the herd now numbers 200,000, up from 150,000 less than a decade ago.

"In a study released on Monday, the state Audubon Society says that grazing deer have so depleted the brush, flowers and wild shrubs that they are threatening to wipe out the population of birds including Kentucky warblers, hooded warblers and ruffed grouse.

"'A dramatic change in New Jersey's native ecosystems is already well under way, and the survival and integrity of the state's natural ecosystems, native species and populations are at stake,' the report said.

"The study applauded various attempts to use costly fencing and deer relocation programs to manage the size of New Jersey's herd, but also urged the state to allow for increased hunting and 'lethal control' programs, which involve hiring sharpshooters to kill deer.

"In the 2003-4 fall and winter deer seasons, 69,456 deer were killed, according to the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife. Eric Stiles, the Audubon group's [state] vice president for conservation, declined to say how many additional deer his organization thought should be harvested."

"'This is an ecological disaster in the making,' Stiles said. 'We have to do something now, before it's too late.'