Deer Are Pests

[ATeam]

This post was prompted by ebsprintin's deer strike survey thread. It is an excerpt from my March, 2009, blog.

It's funny how one's perspective can change. When I grew up in small-town Wisconsin, men hunted deer. They regarded it as an important skill and the deer as wild game. I came to believe the same thing.

Now as a truck driver I believe deer are pests and road hazards. I wish the hunters would use their range finders, shooting glasses, Velcro, Gore-Tex, GPS, satellite imagery, night-vision devices, helmet cameras, scouting cameras, camouflaged SUVs with heated seats and ATVs in tow, Rambo knives, pocket weather stations, deer dung analysis field kits, portable sheds, tree-climbing gear, digital game sound amplifiers, camouflaged folding lawn chairs, red-dot laser rifle scopes, tactical vests, heated sox, environmentally-correct lead-free ammunition, face paint, buck-snort whoopee cushions, carbon-lined scent-suppressing underwear and all the other essentials that help them get in touch with their inner cave man, to prove their worth to society and blow away every deer they see.

Deer hunting bag limits must be lifted. Bambi must die! Give the meat to the poor. Let trucks live!

 

[Turtle]

Now as a truck driver I believe deer are pests and road hazards.

Deer ain't exactly fond of you and your truck, either.

 

[layoutshooter]

The deer are not the problem. The roads are. They are put in wrong. If they were all raised/elevated at least 10 off of the ground there would never be a deer/car/truck wreck. Deer, and all other animals that belong in this nation, would be able to move freely across their natural range as they have done for hundreds of thousands of years. Now that is thinking outside of the box!! Never mind that it is most not likely doable. It would work. Destroying a species is never a good thing and should be avoided.

 

[ebsprintin]

Shooter,

I saw a deer trapped on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in Louisiana. That one is raised and moated.

I would still rather see moquitoes, ticks, and chiggers made extinct before deer.

eb

 

[moose]

Some Gov. officials in Minnesota finely going to solve this problem .they working on a new legislation requiring all deers to wear reflectors vests .
however this new law will only come to effect after the mid term elections ,as Insurance company's are lobbying to include the need for the deers to carry on liability policy's . the way the law is written ,deers are going to be forced to buy the property insurance from the Gov.

 

[layoutshooter]

Shooter,

I saw a deer trapped on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in Louisiana. That one is raised and moated.

I would still rather see moquitoes, ticks, and chiggers made extinct before deer.

eb

There is a very easy way to avoid getting deer onto raised highways, use something along the lines of the grids used to keep cattle in their place. It does not matter, the entire thing will never happen.

All those bugs have their purpose in nature. They are a part of the cycle and belong. That does not mean I ENJOY a bite from one or getting chiggers, but they do have their place.

 

[greg334]

I agree, get rid of those bugs, bring back DDT and let's get to work.

Layout, what would a deer be doing on I 96, between Beech Daly and Inkster?

A week before I left, there was one still sitting dead on the road. Wayne county didn't clean it, but again they don't pickup the dead dogs that are littering the freeways anymore in and around Detroit.

 

[layoutshooter]

I agree, get rid of those bugs, bring back DDT and let's get to work.

Layout, what would a deer be doing on I 96, between Beech Daly and Inkster?

A week before I left, there was one still sitting dead on the road. Wayne county didn't clean it, but again they don't pickup the dead dogs that are littering the freeways anymore in and around Detroit.

Any little pocket of brush or woods can hold deer, is there a park near there maybe? Michigan does not clean up road kills of any kind anywhere in the state.

 

[greg334]

Any little pocket of brush or woods can hold deer, is there a park near there maybe? Michigan does not clean up road kills of any kind anywhere in the state.

Actually the deer came from my area or the area a mile away. I've had them running down the street in the morning and one of my wife's friends had a fawn eating her veggies one morning a few months ago.

Some places used to clean dead dogs off the road. Nothing is more disgusting than having two or three pitbulls dumped on the road rotting away.

 

[layoutshooter]

That may be one of the good things we see as Detroit falls apart. As the houses fall and nature takes the land back we will see more and more of the "good" kind of "wildlife" replacing the nasty kind we have there now!!

 

[Turtle]

Support Wild Life
Throw a Kegger

 

[greg334]

Falls apart?

It already fell apart a long time ago.

There was a great idea floated a while back. Take the land that is vacant and setup farms. The idea kind of fell apart because of all kinds of regulations that the city started to cite to the 'developers'. Instead they want to rip people out of their homes in sparsely occupied areas and move them where there are more homes and sell the land for industrial development.

A friend of mine goes rabbit hunting in a nearly vacant one square mile of Detroit property. He says there are so many rabbits in the area that at least once a week he is eating rabbit. He also has bagged a few pheasant last year.

 

[layoutshooter]

Falls apart?

It already fell apart a long time ago.

There was a great idea floated a while back. Take the land that is vacant and setup farms. The idea kind of fell apart because of all kinds of regulations that the city started to cite to the 'developers'. Instead they want to rip people out of their homes in sparsely occupied areas and move them where there are more homes and sell the land for industrial development.

A friend of mine goes rabbit hunting in a nearly vacant one square mile of Detroit property. He says there are so many rabbits in the area that at least once a week he is eating rabbit. He also has bagged a few pheasant last year.

Back the remains of the city back off of the River for a mile or two and return the marshes.

 

[ebsprintin]

All those bugs have their purpose in nature. They are a part of the cycle and belong. That does not mean I ENJOY a bite from one or getting chiggers, but they do have their place.

The vast majority of creation has gone extinct but creation continues to adapt and continue. So my vote is still eradication of the parasites.

eb

 

[layoutshooter]

The vast majority of creation has gone extinct but creation continues to adapt and continue. So my vote is still eradication of the parasites.

eb

10,000 species at this point in history depend depend on the mosquitoe at one stage of another in it's life cycle for their food. Are you willing to give those up too? What about the pollination that the males do? With honey bees in drastic decline can we afford to lose another polanator? It is never as simple as it sounds.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Back to the deer and other road hazards...we have a lot of cash invested in our equipment and our livelihood depends on our trucks running....a simple investment of a guard would give a peace of mind...like I said..considering how and where we drive...very few have bought this insurance..they'd rather a shower or some other toy....then protect their investment....

and I am also guilty of not having one..

 

[layoutshooter]

Guards would help. Pests? Let's see. Mrs. Layoutshooter and I had venison tenderloin medallions done on the grill this evening. A light marinade, 5 minutes over very hot coals, some hash browns with green pepper and onion and butter sauce corn. The venison was SO tender a knife was not needed. It was a WONDERFUL meal. Nope, not a pest, just potential supper!! It just don't get no better than that!! They are part of the food chain and I am more than happy to be at the top of that chain!

 

[greg334]

With honey bees in drastic decline can we afford to lose another polanator?

Do you know that the decline has to do with how they handle the bees in mass more than anything else.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Guards would help. Pests? Let's see. Mrs. Layoutshooter and I had venison tenderloin medallions done on the grill this evening. A light marinade, 5 minutes over very hot coals, some hash browns with green pepper and onion and butter sauce corn. The venison was SO tender a knife was not needed. It was a WONDERFUL meal. Nope, not a pest, just potential supper!! It just don't get no better than that!! They are part of the food chain and I am more than happy to be at the top of that chain!

To think in Africa even with a rifle you may not be at the top of the food chain...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Do you know that the decline has to do with how they handle the bees in mass more than anything else.

Oh gawd..let me guess ..you are involved in a study of the reproduction habits of the honey bee as well.....