By LESLIE HANSEN
White Rock

I have read with interest the recent letters about feeding wildlife and its possible unintended consequences. I was the senior investigator on a study of road-crossing behavior of deer in Los Alamos County that was funded by LANL around 2002 and 2003. If you would like to read the final report, it is available here: Life in the Fast Lane: Road Crossing Behavior of Mule Deer in a Wildland-Urban Interface (Technical Report) | OSTI.GOV. We put GPS collars on mule deer and recorded where, when, and how often they crossed roads in and around Los Alamos.

For the four deer we collared near the townsite, the females spent nearly all their time in downtown and Western areas, and in Los Alamos and Pueblo canyons. The males ranged more widely and spent some time on national forest land west and north of the townsite. The deer we followed in Los Alamos crossed roads an average of 4.6 to 7.0 times every 24 hours, mostly at night. 

We also looked at the location and timing of deer-vehicle collisions. These collisions occurred disproportionately on roads with speed limits greater than 35 miles per hour, and in the couple of hours following sunset. 

The smallest home range of a deer in our study was 1,268 acres.

Mule deer are browsers, which means they eat young plant growth whenever available, forbs, leaves and twigs, and acorns in the fall. My personal observation is that there are more deer in the townsite than in the national forest lands to the west and north. It seems very unlikely that individuals putting out food for deer are sustaining a large year-round population. I agree with Dr. Ken Werley, Rick Nebel, and James Wernicke that irrigated landscapes provide a much larger food source. 

Also, deer in the townsite are fully protected from human hunters, and likely have less predation from mountain lions and coyotes than deer in surrounding areas.

Feeding bears is dangerous to the bear. Because of their power and size, bears that become used to looking for food in human spaces are subject to removal or death. Feeding deer is not great for deer either. Deer are ruminants, and people may put out foods that interfere with their digestive systems. Locations with large deer numbers may attract mountain lions or coyotes or make it easier for diseases to spread. 

However, passing a local ordinance prohibiting feeding wildlife is unlikely to reduce the number of deer or improve any associated issues such as numbers of collisions. I support the County Council continuing its current policy of promoting public education around interactions with wildlife. The current state regulation making it illegal to feed game species if it creates a nuisance can be used to address specific problems, but hopefully neighbors can also talk with one another.