Syracuse.com - When is enough is enough when it comes to deer in a particular area?

[HuntingNY-News]

U.S. Forest Service botanist Thomas Rawinski, of Oakham, Mass., will share his studies related to the impacts of large numbers of deer on forests in a talk beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

Is there such a thing as too many deer?

U.S. Forest Service botanist Thomas Rawinski, of Oakham, Mass., will share his studies related to the impacts of large numbers of deer on forests in a talk beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

This week, Rawinski has been at the refuge “re-sampling” vegetation plots at the refuge to detect any changes attributable to increases of the refuge’s deer population. Among the things he did last year was check the height of tree saplings and a number of other plants.

“It is quite stunning to think that one species can create such havoc, but the whitetail deer is the main herbivore in our forests and now these ecosystems are out of balance — primarily because humans have killed off most of the large natural predators such as cougars and wolves,” he said.

Rawinski’s talk is free to members of the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, $5 for adult non-members, and $3 for students and seniors who are non-members. For more, call 568-5987, ext. 228.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog