Once again, that time of year has come. The time when the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and birdwatchers have a blast watching all the migratory birds flying and singing in the trees. However, something seems to be wrong as of late. The birds are far fewer, the trees quieter, and the skies emptier. The migratory bird population in the Untied States has dropped to a record low. There can be no doubt of that, but the question is "why?" and the answer may surprise you. The reason for the mass bird disappearance: white tailed deer. Now I know what you're thinking: "How could deer possibly affect the bird population?"
The answer is overpopulation. In 1900, unregulated hunting and deforestation caused the white-tailed deer population in the Eastern United States to drop to only a few clusters of the animals spread out few and far between. In response, the federal government set laws to protect the deer and their habitat. Landowners were encouraged with clear some areas of land to make bigger clearnigs fro deer to graze, and to plant more plants of the variety that deer like to eat on their land. Since then, the white-tailed deer have made a major comeback. Now the number of these animals in the United States is upwards of 50 million, with as many as 75 deer in a single square-mile area in some places. This situation, while great for the deer, presents a number of problems for both humans and the rest of the ecosystem.
The bird population dropping is only one such example of problems for the ecosystem. There is also the fact that so many deer eat a lot of vegetation that normally other animals would also eat. Rabbits, hares, porcupines, and others are all North American terrestrial herbivores feeding on low-growing vegetation, grasses, and some low-growing fruits or vegetables. The over-abundance of deer eating all of this vegetation is also efffecting the other herbivores in that there is not enough food left for them in some areas. Then of course there is the effect on birds. The deer are also eating any of the leaves of trees they can reach, thus effectively stripping the lower branches of large trees and killing any young trees before they have the chance to grow larger, thus removing the birds' homes and habitat, leaving them nowhere to nest and mate.
The effect on humans is sometimes even more evident. Deer darting into the road and being hit by vehicles often totals or at the very least damages the opposing vehicles, sometimes injuring or even killing the humans inside. They are also eating farmers' crops, vegetable gardens, and other plantlife humans put in their yards, gardens, and similar places. While a skittish species by nature, deer can be extremely dangerous if provoked. They have attacked and killed hunters and can also hurt pets when they enter a human's property.
People have debated for sometime how best to correct these problems caused by the over-abundace of these deer, but nothing they have come up with is effective. Hunting is becoming less effective, as there are less and less young hunters in the Eastern United States. There has of course been suggestions of reintroducing and protecting wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. Unfortunately, humans have expanded so much that no one wants to suport that idea for fear of one of these top-tier predators harming or killing humans. Some have suggested fences being installed to keep deer ot of some areas, but of course that requires a lot of money and resources that the current economical climate cannot support. So for now, it would appear that the deer problem is going to continue.
