2015-03-03_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Introduction. Deer management is often a complex issue that results from the confluence of the built and natural environments. These issues require multiple approaches to provide the most appropriate solution. How those issues are handled is a biological, political, economic, and social question that differs from community to community with many different stakeholders needing to compromise on a viable solution. Nature and human development have collided, in some cases quite literally, in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Urban "In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments — there are consequences. " — Robert G. Ingersoll deer populations in Ramsey County are creating issues of property damage, car collisions, and injury to people. However, the main problem is neither deer nor people; the problem is the interactions of the two in a built landscape. General deer biolol-v The deer species in Minnesota is Odocoileiis virginianus, better known as the white-tailed deer. White-tailed deer have a range which covers most of the United States, southern Canada, and into Central America and northern South America. In Minnesota, white-tailed deer habitat can be found throughout the state. Fi.oure I Range map of Wflte-tailed (leer White-tailed deer stand on average 2 to 3 feet tall and are 4 to 6 feet in length. Male deer weigh 100 to 300 pounds and female weigh 85 to 130 pounds. During the summer months white-tailed deer have a reddish brown coat which changes to a grayish brown during the winter months (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2012). All deer have an excellent sense of smell and hearing which they use during mating, warning other deer of potential danger, or marking their territory. Deer also use a series of snorts, grants, and bleats to communicate with other deer (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2012). 2 1 P a g c