Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:15:34 EST
From: Bprentice2
Subject: Re: Deer in Chatham County
Sherri – I think the line you wrote (below) is backwards, or inside-out, or something.
As the surrounding counties develop more, the deer move to where they can find land to roam.
Deer don’t really “roam” all that much. On my little 10 acre plot, I have about a half-dozen deer that rarely leave. There is no need to. Deer move to find safety, and to get food and water. They want some thick brush or woods to bed down in, and some good grass, mast (nuts and fruit), and tender shoots to browse on, a bit of water, and they’re happy. If they can get all that in a small space, they’re not moving.
Hopefully, one off our experts will chime in (Al Cooke, comment please?), but my experience is that development, particularly cutting of forest and planting grass and shrubs actually increases deer density in that area, especially if small strips of thicker brush or woods are left intact. If you think about most of the development in Chatham County, its large lot development, usually cut from mixed pine and hardwood forests. That, along with the remaining agricultural fields, the production of mast, the ability to graze in lush lawns and flower gardens, and the tons and tons of resident-supplied corn feed is what is sustaining an extremely high density of deer in this county – along with the lack of hunters in the incoming residential population.
I can’t recall the exact numbers, but deer population is exponentially higher today than it was before the old-growth forests were cut in the pioneer days… why? Because there is so much more feed and browse available to support the deer population. So don’t blame Brier Creek for moving deer out of the area… my guess is their nice shrubbery will become excellent deer fodder pretty quickly.