Re: California deer population declines as habitat disappears

Meh... This article appears to be just a planted story by the Mule Deer Foundation. It doesn't provide any hard data that the cause of the decline in California's deer population is being caused by habitat loss versus the increase in population of mountain lions. The spokesman of the Mule Deer Foundation discounts the mountain lion theory just out of hand, thinking that the problem is just habitat loss.

The problem with claiming habitat loss is that the mule deer is very adaptable to more man-made exurban and suburban habitats. Just ask anyone who lives in Marin County about their deer population (or in some places, over-population).

I'm not saying that habitat loss could not be a contributing factor. In some areas around California it definitely could be, but this article doesn't bring to light any scientific data or studies to support that claim. (And of course it does not bring to light any scientific data or studies to support the claim of some hunters that mountain lions are the cause of the decline.) In other words, a pretty worthless lightweight article in my opinion. Though it points out, in an indirect manner, that more research is needed to determine – accurately – what's causing California's deer population to decline.

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The problem with claiming habitat loss is that the mule deer is very adaptable to more man-made exurban and suburban habitats.

And urban.

Folks may be shocked about how many deer live in the Chicago area. On long marathon runs I would easily be able to count deer in the twenties/thirties during my early morning runs. The Forest Preserves system in Chicago often flailed about in attempting to keep the population down. It's not like they would allow hunts. At one point, they began capturing females to sterilize them but then the feminists got up in arms about unfairness so they started capturing the males also.

Here is an interesting graph:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/deer/population.html

It seems we need the decline.

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Old Dude

I ask if you would like some Blacktail Deer from northwest Wyoming? There are an estimated 300 deer IN the city limits, and they aren't afraid of much of anything, except for possibly my better half when they munch on her flowers.