4 ms·
It's not unusual to see deer around my house in the DC suburbs in VA(way beyond the zone depicted in the map), but we had a young one acting strangely last summ
by jatsign 7y ago
It's not unusual to see deer around my house in the DC suburbs in VA(way beyond the zone depicted in the map), but we had a young one acting strangely last summer. It was just standing there, and wouldn't run if your approached it. It was very thin.
A neighbor called animal control, who came out and diagnosed this disease. They had to put the deer down, right there in the middle of the suburbs, which alarmed many neighbors.
- jayashe 7y agofellow nova suburbanite here [vienna] the degree to which deer have become comfortable around humans in the area in the last 5 years is incredible. I can be feet away from them on a jog and they won't flinch. I guess that's what happens when your only predator is a car
- eru 7y agoNo coyotes and wolves around?
- Bartweiss 7y agoCoyotes will take deer, but they're not that quick to target healthy adult deer. In the suburbs, they generally end up in smaller packs going after both garbage and scrubland prey like rabbits, so they're not an especially good check on white-tailed deer. (Wolves would be, but then they're not going to be allowed to stay in most suburbs.)
- tomohawk 7y agoThere's a CWD hot spot about an hour by car from there in WV/MD/PA. It's been endemic there for 10 years or so, and has spread quite a bit.