Cathy Isom fills us in on what has experts so concerned about the rising population of deer in urban and metropolitan area. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
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During the fall and winter months, there’s typically an increase in deer populations in lower elevations as they search for food and habitat. Terry Messmer of Utah State University Extension says this also means a greater chance of motor vehicle accidents when deer end up on urban roadways.
“Many of our urban areas in large metropolitan cities, actually constitutes some ideal deer habitat ”
And during spring mating time, deer population in these urban habitat can potentially double by the fall and winter.
“And so you have more mouths to feed and more deer that have come into contact with urban environment so these circumstances together in concert work to create kind of the perfect storm where they put deer and humans in a collision course that can translate into increased damage”
As well as an increased chance of disease transmission. Deer are known to carry ticks that could infect humans with Lyme disease or other illness.