1 / 23

White-tailed Deer in Pennsylvania

White-tailed Deer in Pennsylvania. The only species we manage that, when overpopulation occurs, has a far-reaching impact (consider rabbits or squirrels) Hunters killed more than 409,000 deer during the 2004-05 deer season, a 12 percent drop from the previous season. Economic Impacts .

Download Presentation

White-tailed Deer in Pennsylvania

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. White-tailed Deer in Pennsylvania

  2. The only species we manage that, when overpopulation occurs, has a far-reaching impact (consider rabbits or squirrels) • Hunters killed more than 409,000 deer during the 2004-05 deer season, a 12 percent drop from the previous season

  3. Economic Impacts • ~800,000 hunters, 90% hunting deer • 13,955,000 hunting days • Total expenditures – $941,036,000 • Average spent per hunter $914 • Non-resident expenditures in PA – $82.4 million

  4. Economic Benefits • Federal Excise tax on firearms and ammunition • Hunter and trapper education • Gamelands acquisition • Non-game wildlife enhancements • Habitat improvements on private land

  5. Economic Impacts of Wildlife Watching • Participants – 4.8 million • Residents – 1.3 million • Non-residents – 3.4 million • Total expenditures - $962 million • Average spent per person - $253 • Total non-resident expenditures in PA - $95 million

  6. Deer Diseases • Bovine tuberculosis • Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) • Lyme Disease in PA • 1982 – 2 cases • 2003 – 5730 (highest in US) • Foot and Mouth Disease • Epizooitic Hemorrhagic Disease

  7. Deer-Vehicle Collision Impacts • Nationwide • 1.5 million collisions • 29,000 injuries and 210 deaths • $1.3 billion in expenses (2003) • Pennsylvania • 21 deaths from 1996-2001; 14 in 2003 • ~40,000 accidents per year • PA average repair bill - $2,200 • 40,000 x $2,200 = $88,000,000 • doesn’t include personal injury or other property damage • does this effect your insurance rate? • Estimated 100,000 deer die annually;carcass pickup

  8. Deer-Aircraft Collisions • Commercial and private planes commonly hit deer during landing • Many airports must use expensive fencing • 1990 to 2004, over 650 deer-aircraft collisions were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

  9. Crop Damage by Deer • Annual US loss - $500 million • Annual PA loss – $90 million • Average loss per farm - $9,000

  10. Impacts of Deer on Forests • Forest regeneration • 2.1 million acres of state forest land • Bureau of Forestry expense - $2 million on fencing • Biodiversity-plants, songbirds, understory species • Loss of timber production - $400 million annually

  11. Negative Impacts on Communities • Landscaping and ornamentals • Damage to nurseries - $15,000 per member • Control costs - $5,000 per member • Deer-vehicle collisions • Lyme Disease • Community conflicts

  12. Management Options • No population control • Hands off • Damage control – fencing, repellents • Population Control • Non-lethal methods • Habitat alteration • Capture and relocation • Fertility control

  13. Lethal Methods • Predator introduction • Parasite or disease introduction • Poison • Capture and kill – alter regulations, sharp-shooters, etc. • Bait and shoot • Traditional hunting

  14. Damage Control • Fencing • how high? • $180-600/A depending on type & site conditions • maintenance required • aesthetics • Repellents • taste & odor $10-400/acre for chemicals; labor? • noise-makers • Supplemental feeding-draw them to food

  15. Deer Exclosures

  16. Dominance off Ferns

  17. Habitat Alteration Reduce food and/or cover; carrying capacity differs by habitat • Seedling/sapling stage - 60 deer per mi2 • Pole timber – 5 deer per mi2 • Saw timber – 20 deer per mi2

  18. Capture & Relocation • Drive nets, tranquilizer darts, etc. • $100-800 per deer depending on technique • Stress and injury to deer (and handlers) • Most areas already overpopulated with deer • Unfamiliarity with new area – estimated ¾ die within one year

  19. Fertility Control • Steroidal “birth control pills”; how long does it last? • GonaCon and Spayvac; neither are approved • Immunocontraceptives • Neutering • Expense, non-target effects (can they be eaten?) • Must impact a large % of females • Maximal effect may take 5+ years

  20. Predator Introduction…right!

  21. Hunting What are the PROs and CONs? How to do it?

  22. The Bambi Syndrome

More Related