I1 In
.+Iv
A Catalina
Island mule deer
nibbles, on veg-
etation near an
exclosure fence.
While the desire
to feed these
beautiful ani-
mals is under-
standable, for
their sake and
human safety,
deer should not
be fed.
Photo by
Tyler Dvorak
ies of tolerance by an ecosystem
that wasn't designed by nature to
handle the impacts of deer. In fact,
deer find many of our native and
rarest plants quite irresistible.
Of course, as summer tourism
decreases, so do the handouts.
This leaves even more deer even
hungrier than if they'd never been
fed by people in the first place.
Catalina needs fewer deer, not,
more and hungrier deer.
And then there are the legali-
ties. The California Department
of Fish and Game's rules probably
say it best: "Feeding deer is dead
wrong. It's also against the law.
Allowing deer access to your gar-
den and landscaping, or intention-
ally feeding deer, can be deadly."
Feeding wildlife of any kind, as it
turns out, is a misdemeanor pun-
ishable by fines and/or jail time.
For these reasons and many
more, feeding deer is a terrible
idea. So if the urge strikes, resist
the temptation. You'll be taking
the best and wisest course of ac-
tion for yourself, your neighbors,
and ultimately, for the deer.
Next in the series: Who owns
the deer
C.
BY ALEXA JOHNSON,
NATURALIST
CATALINA ISLAND
CONSERVANCY
You've no doubt noticed that
Avalon is rife with mule deer.
That's because during the dry fall
and early winter months, food and
water become scarce in the inte-
rior. While the desire to feed these
beautiful animals is understand-
able, for their sake and human
safety, deer should not be fed.
Deer that are fed become ha,
bituated to people, alienated from
their natural habitat, and lose the
ability to forage for themselves.
And, generally speaking, the clos-
er wild animals get to people, the
worse things turn out for humans
and beasts.
Feeding deer that appear to be
thin or very hungry actually makes
things worse for the animals. Most
food given to deer is not in their
natural diet, causing issues with
digestion or, at the very least, giv-
ing them hollow or useless calo-
ries that may fill the stomach, but
do little else.
From a human safety perspec-
tive, deer often carry parasites
such as tapeworms, lungworms,
and roundworms. When in Close
contact, all of these parasites can
be transmitted to humans. Deer
are also commonly hosts to deer
ticks, which can carry Lyme dis-
ease and other pathogens.
Then there's the physical risk
associated with interacting with
any wild animal. Every year peo-
ple are hospitalized, or in rare in-
cidents, killed from deer-inflicted
wounds. Males are particularly
edgy during the fall breeding sea-
son. If they feel cornered or threat-
ened, they'll use their antlers and
hooves to gore and maul.
People sometimes get bitten
while attempting to feed a deer.
Animal saliva contains significant
amounts of bacteria and can lead
to a serious infection. And it gets
worse
On a grand scale, feeding deer
can actually increase harm to the
entire ecosystem. By feeding wild
animals anywhere, humans may+
artificially increase populations
beyond an ecosystem's carrying
capacity. In this case, since deer
were introduced to Catalina, they
aren't even a part of the natural
ecosystem. So, there really isn't
any carrying capacity or natu-
ral number of deer on the Island
to begin with. That means that
the increase pushes the boundar-
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