In addition, a deer’s hooves are very sharp and can be used in self-defence.įemale deer during the birthing season (May to July for most UK species) can be highly defensive of new-born young. It may only take a slight movement of a stag or buck’s head for them to accidentally cause injury to someone standing close by. This has led to reports of aggressive behaviour and even deer physically bullying people for food.ĭeer under any circumstances can still be nervous animals and a sudden fright might cause them to lash out. There have been instances when deer have developed unnatural levels of assertiveness after learning to accept food from human hands. Regrettably, feeding deer and other wild animals can encourage an unhealthy dependency as well as having other potential consequences.Ĭaptive deer, even those in parks, are usually kept in numbers which their environment can support and if there is a need for any specialist supplementary feed this will be provided by their keepers.Īll deer, even those accustomed to humans, are essentially wild animals. One winter, I had a resourceful doe that would come to the feeder and bump it with her nose to shake some seeds to the ground for an easy meal.Deer are great opportunists and some, especially those in parks or popular tourist spots, can quickly learn to overcome a natural fear of man in return for an easy mouthful or two.
It is not recommended for people to feed deer, or in some areas bear, for obvious reasons, though both are resourceful animals. It was an acrobatic and strenuous routine, a well-earned reward by what has to be a genius of a gray squirrel. The other day, while watching a young squirrel trying to break into the feeder, the little buggar came up with a method that worked for the first time! It would hang on the side of the feeder, balancing the counter weight that closed off the troth, and reach over with its face and lick a few seeds out from the corner of the troth. They simply pick seeds up off the ground. It is comical because a couple of the older squirrels don’t even bother trying to break in anymore. Being as greedy as bankers, the squirrels quickly clean up that supply of seed, sometimes with aid from deer that come in under the cover of darkness. I always dump some seed on the grass for ground-feeding birds and the squirrels. When a squirrel grabs the perch or hangs on to climb up to the feed tray, the food is blocked off by a piece of “tooth proof” steel that closes such as a garage door, completely sealing off the seeds. The feeder’s design is simple, with a lever-counterweight system that closes off access to the feed troth when something heavier than a bird perches to feed.
It is like the Fort Knox of bird feeders, so when squirrels show up to break in, they are more entertaining than primetime television. It is on a post just outside the office window, for the sake of photographing the wildlife that it attracts. That feeder still is working and doing its job with barely a scratch from those razor-toothed little varmints. I used to keep the seed in a large plastic drum on an open porch until the squirrels chewed their way through the lid, which I always have a difficult time popping off.Ībout 20 years ago, we bought an expensive, all-metal, squirrel-proof feeder designed to foil the efforts of even the most ingenious “bushy tailed rat.” It can be expensive replacing or repairing wooden and plastic feeders that are damaged or destroyed by their razor-sharp incisors. Squirrels especially are industrious and at times destructive.
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