Call the cops! Oh, wait. Never mind!

[Dave1982]

So just a few minutes ago I started to hear the faint sounds of footsteps in wooded area between my backyard and my neighbor's yard. Normally I wouldn't hear that since I usually have my headphones on, but I happened to have them off and had the window open.

It really did sound like someone was sneaking around outside, and at 2:30AM, that's not a happy sound!!

I quickly doused all the lights in my room, opened the window screen, and shined my "handheld sun" flashlight outside. And quickly caught the reflection of eyes!

But it was in fact two deer walking around.

I've been seeing more and more deer around my house over the last few years than I have in the previous 20 that I've lived in this house. I once counted a herd of 20+ running at high speed through the back yard. And two winters ago (February 2008) saw several in the wee hours of the morning eating our shubbery.

This photo was taken out my bathroom window Feb 23, 2008. The focus isn't too good because the screen was messing with me and was frozen shut. The deer ran off shortly after I took this and a few other pictures.




Unfortunately, the increase in deer sightings coincides with an increase in residential development at the expense of previously wooded areas in my town. Therefore it seems that it's a result of a decrease in their habitat.

[draftermatt]

Unfortunately, the increase in deer sightings coincides with an increase in residential development at the expense of previously wooded areas in my town. Therefore it seems that it's a result of a decrease in their habitat.

You said it.

There is a small woods near my parents house, and when I was a kid the only thing in there was raccoons, ground hogs, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and snakes.

Now there are deer, fox, etc in there.

It's cool seeing a dozen deer run through my parents yard at times, but it's also so sad that they've had to come to this tiny wooded area to live.

At least they're thriving there.

[lordlundar]

Okay, for context, I live in a city, roughly at least a mile from any undeveloped area. This is important to note. Why?

A few weeks ago there was a moose about 7 blocks to the south of my house. It somehow managed to get that far into the developed area without being reported. I'm still confused as to how it managed that, as a moose in the residential sections of the city is not a common sight.

My dad was pissed off about this because he missed his chance to hunt it.

[protege]

Unfortunately, the increase in deer sightings coincides with an increase in residential development at the expense of previously wooded areas in my town. Therefore it seems that it's a result of a decrease in their habitat.

I still find it interesting that people move further away from cities to "get away from it," and then the area they move to...become *exactly* what they tried to "get away from" in the first place! Don't believe me? Drive south on Route 19 towards the WV border sometime. 30 years ago, nearly all of that was farms or forests. Now, it's miles and miles of homes, shops, and parking spaces...complete with a traffic light on every corner

In fact, in many of those neighborhoods, the residents bitch about the deer eating their plants, and (occasionally) splattering themselves on the hoods of their vehicles.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I see deer crossing the highway a lot...usually not more than 5 or 6 at once (usually less, actually). A few weeks ago I was on my way home from my parents' house and had to stop for 3 of them moseying on across the street. I've never seen them actually in the neighborhood, though.

Of course, with the increase in deer crossing the street, I'm also seeing an increase in deer lying dead on the side of the road.

The park I go to near work has an enclosed area. Most of it is wooded but the area closest to the park itself has a pond with lots of ducks and geese, and there are lots of deer in there. I get to see babies in the spring! They also have some birds - a turkey, a peacock, pheasants, different varieties of chickens - each type has their own little area, and there are a couple rabbit hutches, a separate enclosure with 2 or 3 goats, and another with an emu. There's an empty space where there used to be a pig, but I'm guessing he died and they haven't replaced him because he hasn't been there for a couple years. The goat fence has signs on it saying not to feed them because their diet is carefully balanced, but you can feed the ducks and geese in the pond, and the deer...sometimes people bring bread to toss over the fence, and feed the deer carrots through the fence.

[AdminAssistant]

The woods around the river near my parents' house now has a pretty good stock of deer, rare 'round those parts. The local adults are just trying to keep the local kids from killing them all. (Hunting is a major pastime down there). Actually, this was sad but..ironic. A guy was driving a tractor (a Case-International, the big red ones) home at night after a long day of working in the fields. He accidentally hit a deer with it. Sad that the deer was killed, but the joke about a Case hitting a Deere went on in the coffee shops for a few weeks.

There are also a lot more coyotes and even a few wolves in those woods now.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

In my city the deer are coming into areas that have built up for years.

Here in Cheeselandialand they're kind of a problem. At work I was paging through a hunting magazine to kill time while on break and I saw a map that showed Wisconsin as having about the highest population density of deer.

[Amina516]

Last summer, when I would sit at the laptop late and have my window open i would hear people walking around outside. Now, my house is next to this alley between yards type thing and down the street from a bar, so its a possibility that some drunk has stopped there to take a piss. So, I always make it a point to look and make sure its NOT a drunk, as I dont want people pissing on my house.

So, last summer, I hear it, I call my husband, he goes outside...see nothing and comes back in. 30 mins later, I hear it again, husband goes outside with a flashlight, sees nothing, comes back in. 10 mins later, I hear it again RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE, husband goes outside....and finds the cutest little baby possum, stuck in the recycling bin. LMAO. I hate possums, but this baby was so cute I couldnt help but love him. My husband let him go, and he now lives in this alley next to mine. I kinda want him to go away now though, b/c hes gotten so big he scares me. lol

[Fire_on_High]

and finds the cutest little baby possum, stuck in the recycling bin. LMAO. I hate possums, but this baby was so cute I couldnt help but love him. My husband let him go, and he now lives in this alley next to mine. I kinda want him to go away now though, b/c hes gotten so big he scares me. lol

When I was young we had a family of possums who would just waddle right up to the back porch and wait patiently to be offered some bread. My mom fed the mother possum once when she was pregnant (or had the babies pouched) and prowling around looking for food, and the possum ended up apparently teaching her babies we were good for a quick meal.

They weren't tame in the sense of handling them, but they weren't rabid and weren't afraid of us in the least. We could set something down, take a couple steps back, and they'd grab it and start munching.

[AdminAssistant]

From one of the resident 'rednecks by birth' - A good rule of thumb is that if you see a possum, raccoon, or other mostly nocturnal creature out and about during daylight - stay away. That can be an indicator of rabies. I actually just recently heard a story about a woman that was attacked by a rabid raccoon. She wasn't bit, but she was scratched, and then the county refused to give her rabies shots. So, when admiring wild animals - be careful.

But it is kind of cool to walk out on fresh fallen snow and see what appears to be dog prints, but the prints are much too large to be any local dogs. Happened during a rare snow at home several years ago, Dad figured a wolf. Made sense due to how our dog was freaking out at the prints and scents he/she left behind.

Speaking of "wild" animals, I was going for a walk in my neighborhood, which is in the middle of a decent-sized town, and saw the cuuuutest little bunny!! You can find "wildlife" anywhere, I guess!

[Fire_on_High]

They'd show up right around nightfall usually. We reckon they were pretty healthy...the mother and one of the babies died to cars over time, but the other baby came around every so often for a couple of years and looked to be fat and happy.

[AdminAssistant]

Yeah, that sounds about right. Dusk is fine. Dad's warning was more for, like, midday.

[Dave1982]

As I was pulling in tonight, right at 10PM, I saw a fox scurrying through the back yard.

[AccountingDrone]

We have a mated pair of bald eagles living in our woods, as well as a pair of barred owls. We lose the occasional chicken to them. Also have our quota of deer, turkeys, a few pheasants and doves. And there seems to be a couple coyotes that range through the area, they seem to have killed off the feral dog population. Now if we could only stop people from dumping kittens on our lawn