Please Don’t Feed the Deer - An uncharitable charity

(Dan Malone, Park Ranger) 

Many beautiful white-tailed deer live on Fire Island. Whenever people and deer live as neighbors, controversy ensues. Perhaps the most harmful human habit that affects this neighborly relationship is the act of feeding deer. Most people who feed deer do so out of a misplaced love for the animals, but in fact feeding creates a synthetic system that affects deer numbers, behavior, and dispersal. During your time on Fire Island, we would like to encourage you not to feed deer. By not feeding deer, you will help maintain natural systems for the wildlife and reduce the potential for negative deer-people interactions in residential areas.

Feeding deer disrupts natural systems by changing deer behavior, population, and dispersal. Deer accustomed to being fed lose their wariness of human beings. Fire Island deer come very close to people, walking on boardwalks, and approaching cars on Robert Moses State Parkway. Although New York State recently passed a law making it illegal to feed wildlife within 300 feet of a state highway, feeding and resulting deer kills in Robert Moses State Park continue to be a problem.

If you live in a community on Fire Island such as Fair Harbor, problems associated with feeding deer may be less obvious than on the parkway, but they are no less real. Some deer on Fire Island have died from accidents when they have gotten their feet stuck in the top boards of walkways. Others have been hurt, maimed, or killed when they have run into fences in the communities. A few deer have also been poached (killed illegally) in recent years, by means of hammer, axe, and bow. In the last year, there have been reports of deer being taken solely for their antlers in some Fire Island communities. Deer used to being fed by people are easier to poach.

Feeding deer changes their population and dispersal (where they live). Fire Island deer have no natural predators, so feeding them artificially extends their lifespans, and it certainly changes their dispersal. Between 1983 and 1991, deer population within the Fire Island communities increased at an average annual rate of 23%. By contrast, the deer population in the Fire Island Wilderness seems to be in balance. Feeding deer increases damage to property and gardens in the communities, and occasionally deer approach and aggressively push human beings, looking to be fed.

On Fire Island, we are fortunate to be able to see white-tailed deer. Feeding deer or any animals within the boundary of Fire Island National Seashore is illegal. For your safety and that of the deer, please keep deer at a distance. For further information, call the resource management division at (631) 289-4810 X234.

Reprinted with permission of The Fire Island National Seashore (M.W.)