Simply Living in the Northwoods: There are Deer Here

There is a lot of controversy in Wisconsin over the actual number of deer residing in the State. The folks living in the suburbs of Milwaukee believe there are way too many and the animals do way too much damage to cars and gardens. Up here, in the northern part of the state, people accuse the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of inflating the population figures and some believe the actual numbers have never been lower. During the last hunting season many hunters reported not seeing any sign deer.

Well, Lookie Here - There's a Deer!

Doe and Fawn in French's Forest*

We have a doe and two fawns that visit us every afternoon and then again at night. In the afternoon they come fairly close to the house and don't seem half as bothered as I am about the dogs' barking. They usually just stare at them and slowly saunter across the driveway and into the woods on the other side of the yard.

Lookie Here, Lookie Here, Asher Sees a Deer

Asher spends a great deal of time looking out the front window to keep an eye on the squirrels. It was a big bonus for him to see a deer and he quickly sent out the alarm to the other dogs. In an unusual show of solidarity the three dogs told the three deer they needed to high-tail it out of the yard, OR ELSE!

"OR ELSE, we'll put on our Super Dog red coats and blind you with our silver glow."

As night begins to fall I usually put out a bucket of corn for the Dear deer family. They can eat in peace in the dark without the dogs barking or glowing in the background.

Corn, a nighttime snack
for the deer.

50 lbs costs between $6-$8

We never see or hear the Dear deer at night, but in the morning there is always evidence that they've paid us a visit.

The Evidence

Deer tracks show a
trail coming across
Payment Lake

In the morning
an empty bucket

As I was researching some things for this posting I came across a great document on the nutritional needs of deer for each season titled Inexpensive Deer Attractant Secrets available from the Internet in pdf format (http://thearkansashuntingandfishingforum.com/InexpensiveDeerAttractantSecrets.pdf).

The article points out that harsh conditions make winter a critical time for deer to get vitamin and minerals from their food. The author adds a mineral supplement (DuMOR Spring Mineral) to corn, soybeans, peanut butter or oats. He varies the main food source depending on cost and availability. He claims that deer love peanut butter.

On the other hand, I also learned that feeding deer is NOT a good thing to do and might be illegal. The DNR reports that feeding causes unnatural concentrations of deer and increases the risk of disease (Chronic Wasting Disease and Bovine Tuberculosis) infection and spread. In addition, studies show that feeding practices may alter deer movement patterns as well as unnaturally increase the carrying capacity for deer in Wisconsin. This was from Baiting and Feeding of Deer in Wisconsin - Update 2008

(http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/hunt/deer/baitfeed.pdf)

I think it is unlikely that my practice of putting out a gallon of corn each night for the Dear deer family will cause a massive unnatural migration to Payment Lake, but you never know. Look what happened a few years back in Eagle River, Wisconsin:

Dinner Time in Eagle River, Wisconsin
photographer unknown, www.spurstalk.com

I've decided not to put anymore deer food out after I finish the bag that I have. I don't like the idea of changing deer patterns, nor do I want the Dear family to succumb to disease from any sick deer that may drop by through word-of-mouth. Finally, I discovered that corn might not be so great for deer, even though the love it. Amazing how similar deer are to people.

In the case of deer, the Wildlife Management Institute reports that, it takes the animals two to four weeks of eating a new food to establish the microbes necessary to digest it. Corn is not naturally part of their diet, unless they grew up around corn fields in which they foraged. Even scarier is the safety of store-bought corn. The Wildlife Management Institute also claims that products sold as "deer corn" are often considered unfit for human or livestock consumption as they are tainted by toxins produced by mold. (Feeding Wildlife...Just Say No!, www.wildlifemanagementinstitute.org)

from the National Park Service

For the rest of the winter the Dear deer family will have to forage in the forest for their own meals, but I suppose they will still visit us from time to time in the afternoons, sending the dogs into a frenzy.

Can you find the doe and the fawn?
The dogs didn't see them.

I stopped by the local DNR office in Mercer and found out that feeding deer is not illegal in Iron County, however it is regulated. You can only put out two gallons of food and may not use automatic feeders. The food must be within fifty yards of your residence and may not be within one hundred yards of a road with a speed limit of 45 mph or more.