A few weeks ago I asked a warehouse worker at a farm supply outlet in Eganville who is buying all the course (green) timothy bales of hay that they have sitting on pallets outside for all to see.
“People who are feeding deer. We’ve sold a lot of hay all winter,” said the attendant.
The hay sells for $10 a bale.
When a big snow storm blows in, or there is a hard surface on the snow after a thaw and a freeze-up, people suddenly want to help the deer by feeding them hay and corn. From the warmth of our homes and the daily routine of feeding domestic stock and pets, it is often assumed that we can and should help deer survive the rigors of winter by feeding them.
I can just picture it. Retirees with nothing to do, living in the country get pleasure in watching many birds at their bird feeders. And if they can entice a Bambi or two with some green hay or golden corn would that ever be a delightful sight on a cold, wintery day. Bad idea!
Concentrating deer around feeders near our homes may cause a number of problems. Property damage in the area may increase by their browsing on ornamental shrubs and trees. They may become a hazard to local traffic as they move to and from the feeding site. Domestic dogs will begin chasing and even killing deer.
You must ask yourselves, “Why do you want to feed deer?” If it is to make yourselves feel good or to see more deer from your kitchen window, perhaps you should reconsider. These are reasons for your benefit, not necessarily for the benefit of deer.
Be careful, the deer you feed and pamper over the winter will probably be back in the summer to munch at your garden and pumpkin patch. They need some “tough love” instead.
Just as people have learned that sometimes well-meant help facilitates unhealthy behaviour, so winter-feeding of deer is unhealthy — or even deadly — for deer, say wildlife specialists. The Ministry of Natural Resources generally discourages feeding deer except in special circumstances, and then it must be done properly if our efforts are to actually be of overall benefit to the deer.
They say feeding deer hay or corn can kill them, because they cannot always digest it. Deer digestion involves protozoa and bacteria that help break down food. Different micro-organisms help digest different types of vegetations. If a deer has been feeding on aspen or willows, it has built only up the micro-organisms that digest this kind of vegetation. If this same deer suddenly fills its stomach with corn or hay, it may not have enough of the corn and hay-digesting micro-organisms in its stomach to digest the food. A deer can starve to death with a full stomach.
In addition, deer can become fixated on a food source. Deer will stay near a food source, even an inadequate one, rather than seek more sufficient food in other areas. Deer will concentrate around a feeder rather than scattering through the available winter range.
Many deer visiting feed stations are carrying fawns. Deer have evolved to fear man. This has helped them survive. Artificial feeding forces them to ignore the presence of people. In some cases, this could be their downfall.
Specialists noted that if you found the perfect diet with all the necessary nutrients, and if you were able to feed all the deer 3.5 pounds of good browse daily, and if you were able to get the feed divided equally among the animals (young deer need food the most, are kept away by larger or stronger deer), and if you were able to minimize the spread of disease due to animals being closer together than they would be naturally, even then your problems would not be at an end.
Next year, the perfectly fed and healthy animals’ offspring would come with their mothers. Each year, you would need to provide more feed for the new generations. In truth, you may hurt more deer than you help if you feed them.
There is a way to help. Create and maintain a natural habitat and combine that with proper hunting.
