Fawning praise
I just wanted to commend you for responsibly reporting on human/wildlife encounters [“When wildlife attacks,” Fishbowl, December 16]. Far too often these types of stories contain inaccurate information regarding our wildlife. Such misinformation frightens the public, making people less tolerant of wildlife around their homes.
I might add that people would not have problems with animals in their trash or feeding out of their pet bowls if they eliminated such easy access to food. People who do not secure their trash cans and who leave food outside are themselves responsible for enticing wild animals to their yards. Yards are a part of the real world and thus it is unreasonable to expect our wildlife to ignore easy pickings.
Marlene A. Condon
Crozet
Passing the buck
Contrary to what was said in “When wildlife attacks,” the No. 1 tool used to control deer population is not hunting. It is actually the hunters themselves who are causing the overpopulation. And this is their goal—to have large numbers of animals to kill.
Deer numbers fluctuate with the availability of food and habitat. When both these factors are plentiful, deer begin having fawns at a younger age and the incidence of twins and triplets rises. When food supplies are scarce, the does do not normally become pregnant.
After hunting season, there is a vacancy in the habitat resulting in more food and space available and therefore an increase in fawns in the summer. Killing deer is not stopping the overpopulation. In areas such as the national parks, where hunting is not permitted, the deer population is stable. Natural selection maintains deer herd size.
The hunters shooting in the woods around my land are doing no one any favors. I once believed the hunters when they said it was necessary to stop the overpopulation. I now see that they are out there for the joy of killing, not out of any concern for the animals “dying of starvation.” If they truly cared about the creatures, they’d leave the deer alone.
Susan Wiedman
Charlottesville
Animal cruelty
The animals have run amok? Au contraire! Can we take a look for maybe one teensy-weensy second at who has actually run amok? Look in the mirror! It’s you and me, pal. We trade in vibrant forest and countryside for plastic-coated life, endless strip malls so we can all play “town,” monopoly, whatever, and see which joker ends up with the most debt notes to the corporately owned Federal Reserve. I dare ask who truly has run amok. No sympathy for a bleeding and horrified being stuck in the confines of some hellish super-dollar-trash store or a toxic mattress shack. What a shame. I stand in awe of ourselves from the shallow end of humanity’s shrinking pool.
Soren Mitchell
Esmont