Please do not feed deer
If you feed deer, please don't, and instead consider their safety and the welfare of yourself, your family, and neighbours.
Wildlife fed in residential areas lose their natural fear of people and become vulnerable, while young animals can fail to learn the skills required to secure their natural diets. Backyard feeding often means animals travel near and across roadways, sidewalks and around houses.
Deer naturally have several adaptations that help them survive winter including:
- a thick winter coat of hollow hair;
- storage of fat through summer and fall for winter use; and
- reduced activity and slowed metabolism requiring less food.
Concentrating deer around feeders near homes causes a number of problems, including:
- danger to people and pets;
- property damage on lawns, ornamental shrubs, and trees;
- hazards to local traffic as they move to and from the feeding site;
- domestic dogs chasing and even killing deer, or dogs injured or killed; and
- higher susceptibility to disease.
Please be a good neighbour and do not feed deer.
To learn more about living safely with wildlife, please visit:
https://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/living-with-wildlife/