Re: Destructive Deer and Wallabies



Jeff and Carolyn Walters wrote:

> > >> MMMMMmmmmmmm, Venison!
> > >Ah, but only in the fall.
> > >Rima
> > So do you have 'open season' on deer like we have on ducks? We don't
> > kill and eat our kangaroos, but there's one very cute and very
> > destructive wallaby I'm gunnin' for here.
> > Jan Clark
>
> Jan,
>
> Legal deer hunting in this country is generally limited to a season of no
> more than a few weeks in the fall (October or November in most states). Of
> course, you can always run them down on the highway anytime you draw a bead
> on 'em with your headlights. (-:
> (Not recommended for elk or moose)  )-:
>

Here in South Carolina, the deer season opens on August 15th and ends January
1st.  Most rural gardeners and farmers think that it not long enough.  There
are more deer here now than there were when the Native Americans governed.
Deer have a measurable impact on the economics of farming and have caused may
avid gardeners to give up in disgust.

Around our home, my wife has completed abandoned all the beds which are not
fenced.  Fences are a considerable help although we have watched deer jump over
a 5-foot fence, eat for a while, then jump back out.

Since my wife has monopolized the fenced areas, I am left to find other forms
of defense.  I have motion detectors set up in the area around the iris beds
and a moving object triggers relays which turn on the sprinkler system,
flashing lights, buzzers and a radio set to a country-western music station
(you can not get more annoying than that).  The arrangement has to be changed
every few weeks or the deer become accustomed to the ruckus and are not driven
away.  Nonetheless, they still manage to do much some damage, especially in
last winter and early spring.  The damage is done by eating the fans and
driving rhizomes deep into the ground with their hooves.  This is part of the
reason I am so fond of amaryllidaceae, to wit, they are poisonous and the deer
do not eat them.

I have not been deer hunting in decades, but encourage others to do so at every
opportunity.  The uninformed are often outraged at the idea of murdering
Bambi.  However, hunters are no longer able to adequately replace the natural
deer predators and control the population in many areas, including the area
around our home.  The result is overbrowsing, followed by poor health and the
outbreak of disease epidemics which can wipe out large portions of the heard in
a short period of time.  There is evidence to suggest we are about to enter the
final stage in this cycle.  Feeding them my iris bed will not postpone the
inevitable for long.

Stephen Hopkins
vigilant in South Carolina
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