SI Deer population keeps exploding...

[Sogaard]

I saw six (6) deer in a span of 5 minutes while driving home from work late last night. First I saw a buck nibbling on some low branches just inside the guard rail along the side of 440, between exits 3 and 2. Then I saw two yearlings (one was pibald) feeding along the side of the 440 exit 2 wrap around to Richmond Parkway. Next, I saw two mature buck standing in the middle of Bloomingdale Road. I had to slow down and flash my brights until the spooked enough to run back into the woods. Lastly, I saw a mature doe grazing on the side of Bloomingdale Road, a little further up.'

This is getting crazy, and no one will address the issue until someone gets seriously injured or dies in a car accident.

Edited October 11, 2012 by Sogaard

[mxsmitz201]

i wouldnt call that over populated.....

[Sogaard]

Sorry, I forgot to clarify, I'm talking about Staten Island, part of NYC. No hunting at all here, and no predators. Just a deer population that should never have been allowed to grow unchecked for a decade.

Edited October 11, 2012 by Sogaard

[Hunter1]

My buddy sends me some nice pictures of bucks on the hospital grounds. Also a lot of turkeys

[Doc]

Sooner or later they are going to have to address the problem because there is no way that it will ever get any better until there is some human intervention. It's an urban and suburban problem that is developing across the state and is very hard to control.

[nyantler]

The problem is not over population... populations haven't fluctuated all that much over the years.. loss of habitat has caused high deer density in shrinking habitats.. and yes Doc sooner or later it will have to be addressed... more in suburban than urban areas because of the huge increase in new building developments over the last 20-30 years that held vast amounts of whitetails that are being displaced.

[Doc]

Yes, there has been a significant invasion of habitat by builders. You can see it everywhere and it's not letting up either. One of the additional problems that comes of all this is the removal of the use of hunting to control the critters because of the new buildings. That's a real lose-lose situation.

[Sogaard]

The problem is not over population... populations haven't fluctuated all that much over the years.. loss of habitat has caused high deer density in shrinking habitats.. and yes Doc sooner or later it will have to be addressed... more in suburban than urban areas because of the huge increase in new building developments over the last 20-30 years that held vast amounts of whitetails that are being displaced.

No, you're wrong on this point. Staten Island is a unique situation. Although I'm sure developments have impacted a little, the deer population has truly exploded in the past 10-15 years. The estimates back then were that there were less than 50 deer on the whole island (DEC claims that the few that were here swam over from New Jersey). They have since bred uncontrolled and spread all over the west and south of the island. I see groups of 12-15 moving around when 10 years ago, if you saw 3 together, it was amazing. Nothing is around to keep the population in check besides the occasional car accident and its said a herd can double in population every 3 years if nothing is around to control it.

If I had to guess, they will eventually have to bring in "professional" archers or sharpshooters to cut down the population, which is such a shame. I wish they would open a very strict lottery and let hunters take care of it, but I doubt it will ever happen in NYC.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Sogaard