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Academic

: Less than the Least

Deer--Skeel

By David Skeel and Bill Stuntz

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As the days shorten and fall activities begin, one of the summer rituals I will miss most is sitting on our back porch at the end of the day. At around 7pm most days, white tailed deer—usually two or three—strut across the yard to our neighbor's apple tree. If they notice us, they freeze for a minute or so, ears flattened, then resume their foraging. Sometimes they chase each other around the neighbor's very large yard. Once or twice, we've seen them stand on their back legs for a few seconds, trying to reach higher apples. It's amazing to think such large, beautiful animals live in the small pockets of woods of our suburban township.

The herd has steadily increased in the twelve years we've lived in this northern suburb of Philadelphia. Gardeners trade tips on how to keep them out—a fence still seems to be the only foolproof strategy. I think the township should allow periodic hunting to reduce the number of deer, but not in my backyard. I know my wife agrees, at least with the backyard part. A decade ago, when our children were small, she looked out and saw two hunters traipsing across our lawn with crossbows. Asked what they were doing, they said the owner of a nearby wooded property had given them permission to hunt, and they were tracking a deer they thought they'd hit. My wife made it very clear they wouldn't be doing any tracking near us. They seem to have gotten the message. We haven't seen any hunters since.

Full post as published by Less than the Least on September 14, 2009 (boomark / email).