POV
We are WonderBread-
Paw Paw H.S.
10/27/2010
Just last year a dead deer was found on our
baseball field. This has happened twice so
far to this town. The deer sometimes eat peaches out
of my friends peach orchard. Route
9 is one of the most deer filled roads I think in
West Virginia. Mostly we see deer on the
road and in fields we rarely see them in our town
though.
The following information
is copied from WVDNR:
"An Integrated Approach to Deer Damage Control
The white-tailed deer is West Virginia's most
popular game animal with 343 thousand
hunters harvesting over 175 thousand deer annually.
As deer numbers have increased,
damage problems to farms and gardens have also
increased. Deer have high nutritional
requirements and can be very destructive; however,
deer damage is a natural hazard of
the farming profession and should be considered
analogous to insect and disease problems.
Therefore, an integrated management strategy is
often necessary for solving the problem.
(McAninoch)
Control Options
The landowners' goals and values influence their
choice of deer damage control options. If
the landowner values his deer hunting recreation
over commercial crop goals, then he is
likely to choose a control option emphasizing
protection from damage rather than
decreasing the deer herd. Likewise, other landowners
may choose to decrease the deer
herd on their land during the regular hunting season
by emphasizing the removal of does.
Once the level of tolerance to deer damage and the
desired size of the deer herd is
determined then a comprehensive management program
can be implemented. (McAninoch)
Making A Choice
Ideally, a deer damage control program should be
planned well in advance of planting a
crop. Do not wait until you have e xperienced high
losses to begin doing something about the
problem. Consider the characteristics of the land
to be protected as well as future
planting plans. In addition to the type of crop,
important factors to consider are the
presence of neighboring deer cover, the size of the
acreage to be protected, and the
topography of the land. A simple and economical one
strand electric fence 3 foot high has
proven effective in controlling deer damage in
gardens. Fencing should always be in place
before damage begins and if an electric fence is
used then it should be charged well in
advance. Electric poly-wire and poly-tape fences
used in conjunction with peanut butter
baits wrapped in tin foil are effective in
controlling deer damage. Research at West Virginia
University and Pennsylvania University have shown
that the cost of 6-wire high tensile
electric fence for 5 acres is $140 per acre but
decreased to $35 per acre for 100 acres.
Rills and gullys may decrease the ability to
effectively use fencing to control deer damage.
Fencing also may not be economical where crops are
planted in small and dispersed fields.
References
McAninoch, J.B., M.R. Ellingwood, and R.S.
Winchcombe, 1983. Deer damage control in New
York agriculture. N.Y. State Department of
Agriculture and Markets. 13 pp.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, The Pennsylvania
State University, The United States
Fishand Wildlife Service. 1982. Deer. Penn. Wildl.
Nuisance and Damage Control, No. 12.4
pp.
Authors
James E. Evans, Robert W. Cheves, Jr., Tara A.
Baugher, Steven M. Carcaterra, W.
Randolph Davidson,
William N. Grafton, Thomas R. McConnell, Arthur W.
Selders, Charles E. Williams, David J. "
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