More Harm than Good

Are you tempted by the advertisements that promote the availability of so-called “deer feed” at the store? Don’t be, wildlife biologists say: feeding wild white-tailed deer may harm the animals’ ability to survive a New England winter.

“Some people say, ‘if the deer look (or seem) skinny and hungry, I should feed them,’” says Kent Gustafson, deer project leader for New Hampshire Fish and Game. “But it’s a lot more complicated than that. Despite our best intentions, supplemental feeding creates an artificial situation in which the deer, the habitat, and the public may suffer.”

The commercial availability of “deer feed” does not make it okay to feed the deer – in fact, supplying white-tailed deer with supplemental feed can actually cause more harm than good, according to wildlife biologists.

Darrel Covell, a wildlife specialist with University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, notes that white-tailed deer in New England are at the northern limit of their range. “They have several natural adaptations that allow them to survive the winter, like a thick winter coat of hollow hairs and the storage of fat in fall for later use in winter.” In winter conditions, adult deer conserve their energy, getting as much as 40 percent of their daily energy during winter from their fat tissue.

In winter, cover – not food – is the key to deer survival. Deer seek softwood cover (deer yards) to avoid deep snow, high winds, and extreme cold. Deer move little in these areas, using a network of trails that disperse them and reduce competition for natural food. When humans feed the deer, it disrupts carefully honed survival strategies and may lead to the deer spending more energy than they can afford outside of safe shelter.

“Good natural habitat provides the best insurance for deer survival in winter,” says Gustafson. “If you care about deer, leave them alone – let them be wild and find natural foods and appropriate winter shelter on their own.”

Need more reasons to resist feeding wild deer?

Feed sites congregate deer into unnaturally high densities. These high deer densities can:

attract predators and increase risk of death by coyotes or domestic dogs;

spread diseases among deer;

cause aggression, wasting vital energy reserves and leading to injury or death;

reduce fat reserves, as deer use energy traveling to and from the feed site;

result in overbrowsing of nearby vegetation and ornamental plants;

deny access to food to subordinate deer and fawns, which can’t compete with larger deer; and

increase deer-vehicle collisions.

Feed sites lure deer away from natural wintering areas. This attraction can trap deer in inferior winter habitat and increase the chance of malnutrition and predation. If deer continually go to feed sites instead of deer wintering areas, then young deer may never learn to find their natural winter habitat.

Feeding deer does more harm than good.