White-tailed deer are overpopulated on the United States East Coast, and they play an essential role in the spread and support of tick populations that transmit illnesses such as Lyme disease and anaplasmosis.
Controlling deer numbers has long been predicated on the premise that deer reside mostly in woodland parklands, coming into homes at night to feed on gardens and groomed yards.
Deers sleeping closer to residences
Joe Cox/Unspalsh
Recent five-year research conducted by the University of Maryland and the USDA discovered that deer in suburban areas frequently lie down and spend the night within 50 meters of private premises, as per ScienceDaily.
It is the first research to disclose the exact, hourly movements of white-tailed deer at various times of day and seasons. On September 19, 2022, the work was published online in the journal Urban Ecosystems.
We knew deer were in and around communities, but we didn't understand how many of them lived there, said Jennifer Mullinax, an assistant professor in the UMD Department of Environmental Science & Technology and the study's principal author. The study's main finding is that suburban white-tailed deer live in neighborhoods.
The study's findings provide critical recommendations for suburban areas looking to lower the incidence of tick-borne infections.
An abundance of deer in residential areas acts as a reservoir for ticks, increasing their numbers and the danger of tick-borne illness exposure in humans.
Reducing tick numbers, for example, by eliminating deer or treating locations where deer sleep, can assist to minimize that reservoir and restrict disease spread.
We used to assume individuals acquired Lyme disease when they went on a stroll in the woods, but new studies have shown they get it in their backyards, and now that we know deer live right there, it makes more sense.
The researchers captured and collared 51 deer from five parks in the Howard County, MD metropolitan region, which includes residential neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and pockets of open space or undeveloped terrain.
For 62 to 116 weeks, the collars had high-resolution GPS trackers that logged deer whereabouts every hour (1.19 to 2.23 years).
The researchers discovered that deer avoided residential areas during the day but migrated into them at night, especially during the winter, frequently resting extremely close to the boundaries of lawns and yards surrounding houses and apartment complexes.
Within the female and male core ranges, respectively, 71 and 129 residential properties were discovered.
With this new, high-resolution data on where deer are at different times of day and seasons, communities will be able to minimize deer and tick populations, potentially lowering rates of human exposure to tick-borne illnesses.
Suburban deer sightings are so ubiquitous that few of us notice them. White-tailed deer can be found on the highways, in parks, and even in our backyards, as per Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Many people believe that these creatures belong in the deep forests and that those that venture into our communities are refugees displaced by residential, commercial, or agricultural development. In reality, industrialization improves deer habitat.
White-tailed deer are a marginal species that rely on a wooded territory for cover and open regions for food, requiring a significant part of each to thrive.
As it turns out, their native habitat resembles the one we've created for ourselves. Residential communities, as they expand and spread, sustain far larger populations of deer than a wild setting would.
We unintentionally offer a sanctuary in which a lack of natural predators, restricted hunting, quality habitat, and diversity of ample food resources combine to allow deer to breed at a pace that is equivalent to or greater than in wild habitats.
Living in close quarters is not for everyone. While some are eager for another sight, others are concerned about the financial consequences to their land and would prefer not to host a herd of hungry deer.
Wildlife experts strongly advise against intentionally feeding local deer. Such food supplies tend to attract and gather the animals, increasing not just the possibility of disease transmission amongst them, but also the danger posed to them by vehicles on nearby streets.
Even under harsh winter conditions, supplying food causes more harm than help because it disturbs and overwhelms the animals' stomach's seasonally-tuned balance of bacteria and protozoans required for successful digestion.
