White-tailed Deer - Human Interactions

Human Interactions

A century ago, commercial exploitation, unregulated hunting and poor land-use practices, including deforestation, severely depressed deer populations in much of their range. For example, by about 1930, the U.S. population was thought to number about 300,000. After an outcry by hunters and other conservation ecologists, commercial exploitation of deer became illegal and conservation programs along with regulated hunting were introduced. Recent estimates put the deer population in the United States at around 30 million. Conservation practices have proved so successful that, in parts of their range, the white-tailed deer populations currently far exceed their carrying capacity and the animal may be considered a nuisance. The lack of natural predators (which normally cull young, sick or infirm specimens) has undoubtedly contributed to the locally abundant populations.

At high population densities, farmers can suffer economic damage by deer depredation of cash crops, especially in corn and orchards. It has become nearly impossible to grow some crops in some areas unless very burdensome deer-deterring measures are taken. Deer are excellent fence-jumpers, and their fear of motion and sounds meant to scare them away is soon dulled. Deer can prevent successful reforestation following logging, and have severe impacts on native plants and animals in parks and natural areas. Large populations of deer particularly can decimate forest undergrowth. They also cause substantial damage to landscape plants in suburban areas, leading to limited hunting or trapping to relocate or sterilize them. Due to their overpopulation, they frequently overcrowd the now fragmented woodland areas of the Eastern U.S. and are forced to wander into suburban and urban habitats that are less than ideal for the species. Motor vehicle collisions with deer are a serious problem in many parts of the animal's range, especially at night and during rutting season, causing injuries and fatalities among both deer and humans. Vehicular damage can be substantial in some cases. Deer are also the primary vector for the spread of tick borne illnesses and diseases, such as lyme disease and babesiosis.

In the US, the species is the state animal of Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, the wildlife symbol of Wisconsin, and game animal of Oklahoma. The profile of a white-tailed deer buck caps the Vermont coat-of-arms and can be seen in the Flag of Vermont and in stained glass at the Vermont State House. It is the national animal of Honduras, and the provincial animal of Canadian Saskatchewan and Finnish Pirkanmaa. Texas is home to the most white-tailed deer of any U.S. state or Canadian province, with an estimated population of over four million. Notably high populations of white-tailed deer occur in the Edwards Plateau of Central Texas. Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Indiana also boast high deer densities. In 1884, one of the first hunts of white-tailed deer in Europe was conducted in Opočno and Dobříš (Brdy mountains area), in what is now the Czech Republic.