We have deer!
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325594)
Rockingham, Australia
June 13, 2018 9:52pm CST
I have often mentioned that Australia has kangaroos whereas America has deer. However it seems that we have deer too and in sufficient numbers to warrant a warning sign being placed on some roads. I knew there were wild deer in parts of Australia but this sign is on the east coast of Tasmania. I wonder if we’ll be lucky enough to see one in the wild and also lucky enough to avoid running into it with the car.
I did some research on deer in Australia and it seems they are considered the most important and emerging pest species in eastern Australia, with numbers increasing rapidly. The first deer were released in Australia for recreational hunting in the 1880s. Not only do they compete with domestic herds for feed and water, they are also destroying treed areas when rubbing the velvet from their antlers. They are also damaging wetlands and contributing to soil erosion. I wonder if their numbers will increase in Western Australia to the point where they become a pest.
Here is a link to the article I read:
As wild deer numbers continue to flourish in parts of New South Wales, there are renewed calls to declare the animals a pest.
13 people like this
14 responses
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
14 Jun 18
I thought that deer are good but they can also be somehow destructive.
1 person likes this
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
14 Jun 18
@JudyEv Tsk tsk. They are adorable to me but I guess they have to be that way in order to survive too.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
@mlgen1037 I think they are adorable too but I'm glad we don't have them running wild in our state.
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@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Jun 18
Haha. Our kangaroos are not dears. They're very naughty. 
@porwest (78761)
• United States
14 Jun 18
In the United States much of our deer herds are controlled via hunting. They can still be pests per se, but there are actually a lot of people who feed them. They are quite ubiquitous in the States and are even often times in big cities.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169876)
• United States
14 Jun 18
They are pretty and gentle animals, but they can be destructive..and also cause quite a few accidents. My sister has totaled two cars in collisions with deer.
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@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
They are a bad size to hit with a car I would think. I can imagine them being hit in the legs and the body sliding up the bonnet and hitting the windscreen.
@wolfgirl569 (95042)
• Marion, Ohio
14 Jun 18
It is almost always a problem when non native animals are introduced to an area. They are beautiful and I hope you get to see one.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
We have had a number of introduced pests that have played havoc with our native animals.
@JudyEv (325594)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
I think there are lot of people who shoot deer - those that like hunting, etc - and I'm sure a lot of them would pop the meat in the freezer. You can get venison in some restaurants and deer are farmed for meat but I think supply is outstripping demand at the moment.
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@JESSY3236 (18925)
• United States
15 Jun 18
I didn't know that you have deer too. My uncle used to love to hunt, but he never shot any.
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@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
14 Jun 18
Oh no, not another introduced species down under. Rabbits, camels and now deer.
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