Dogs for Deer Management
Dogs as a Deterrent Managing White-Tailed Deer in Suburban Environments A Technical Guide [PDF], Anthony J. DeNicola, Kurt C. VerCauteren, Paul D. Curtis, and Scott E. Hygnstrom, A publication of Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Wildlife Society–Wildlife Damage Management Working Group, and the Northeast Wildlife Damage Research and Outreach Cooperative Agricultural producers (Torrice 1993) and researchers (Beringer et al. 1994) have used invisible fencing systems and dogs for reducing deer damage to crops. Information collected indicated that two dogs contained within an invisible fence afforded protection to apple trees within about 500 yards of their kennel (approximately 60 acres) during summer, but the effective radius was reduced to about ten acres during winter when snow restricted movement of the dogs. Beringer et al. (1994) documented that two dogs within an invisible fence were more effective for protecting five-acre plots of white pine (Pinus strobus) seedlings from deer damage than a commercial deer repellent. A buried perimeter wire provided easy equipment access, no gates were needed, snowfall did not affect operation of the electronics, and costs werevmuch lower than other electronic fencing systems. Dogs restricted by an invisible fence system can keep deer out of an area, however, care and feeding of the dog can be time-consuming and costly (Beringer et al. 1994). The costs may be considered negligible if the dog serves primarily as a pet. A family pet, however, may not provide adequate protection because the dogs need to patrol the area during day and night. The breed and disposition of the dog will influence effectiveness of this technique. Large dogs that aggressively patrol the area appear to work best. The omplete protection of plant materials should not be expected, as deer react to dogs similar to other scare devices or repellents. Free-running dogs are not advisable and may be illegal ... Oppose the Whippenscott Deer Cull [use trained dogs] February 9, 2012 United Kingdom, Huffington Post UK For the last six years I have campaigned against an absurd condition in the Hunting Act which bans my use of dogs to manage the wild deer on my farm at Whippenscott in North Devon unless I shoot them. The part of Devon where I live is home to a fantastic herd of native red deer. If the herd is allowed to congregate in certain ecologically sensitive areas they can do serious damage both to bio diversity and to the productivity of my land. I have developed a completely humane non lethal way of dealing with this problem. I simply take my pet dogs round my property on a regular basis. Deer are naturally scared of dogs whom they perceive as predators. When the dogs encounter the deer the deer run off occasionally briefly chased by the dogs. Follow Giles Bradshaw on Twitter:www.twitter.com/gilesbradshaw Part two: A wildlife biologist's continued musings about urban deer issues November 23, 2011 Canada, BCLocalNews, Bob Lincoln ... Musing on the urban deer conflict, here are a couple options that occur to a wildlife biologist: Deer are inherently fearful of dogs. A dog confined to a landowner’s property, either by rigorous training or by an ‘invisible fence,’ could stand guard to keep deer away from a specific property.... Trained sheep-herding dogs, such as border collies, under control of a professional dog handler, could restore aversion of specific urban neighborhoods. Betterton: Number of deer worries residents February 12, 2012 Maryland, The Star Democrat ... George Timko, of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, gave a summary of methods for reducing the number of deer in a given area. According to Mayor Carolyn Sorge, some of the approved methods include introduction of predators, yearly birth control, building high fences and introducing dogs trained to chase deer off farmland. ... State mulls new dog rules for trailing wounded deer May 25, 2013 Texas, Austin American-Statesman ... In the late-1980s, the state banned the use of dogs to chase deer in 35 East Texas counties... Today it seems illegal dog hunting to chase and move deer around the big woods in East Texas has virtually disappeared to the point that department biologists and wardens have suggested to parks and wildlife commissioners that hunters be allowed to use trained trailing dogs under owner control to help track wounded deer in some of those counties... Scientists turn to dogs to track, protect endangered animals September 25, 2012 Washington, Public Radio International PRI ...Samuel Wasser, the Conservation Canines program and director of the university's Center for Conservation Biology... says the dogs are an "extremely efficient" way of gathering samples — typically animal feces...Our dogs have an incredible play drive for a ball... The caribou were not declining anywhere near as quickly as government projections had implied... The government had been considering reducing the wolf population to protect the caribou, but Wasser's team's research also discovered the wolves are eating few caribou and mostly deer... | Kimberely, Deer hazing trial a success: What next? May 31, 2013 British Columbia, Cranbrook Daily Townsman ... The City of Kimberley and the Urban Deer Committee believe that they have successfully demonstrated that using dogs to haze deer and train them to stay out of town is a viable tool in an urban deer management plan... "You'd be looking at roughly $300 to $350 per day if not more, for the use of the dogs. Having said that, for me I feel the money would be well spent... " ... Mayor Ron McRae. Deer moved in Marysville on Wednesday May 29, 2013 British Columbia, Cranbrook Daily Townsman ... While most people in Marysville were still in bed, or enjoying their morning coffee, two border collies — Bob and Tess — were moving deer. There was no fuss, no muss, no stampede — just a group of deer moving out of town under the guidance of two very well trained dogs. Kimberley's one-time only trial with aversive conditioning of urban deer ... "It went well," Zehnder said... Release the hounds! One man's plan to rid Syracuse neighborhood of deer September 11, 2012 New York, Syracuse.com ... John W. Laundre, who specializes in predator ecology as a biology professor at the State University of New York at Oswego ...To test his theory ...A control group of homes would not make any changes to the way they handle their dogs or their yards. Other owners would install underground electric fences, train their dogs not to cross the boundary, and allow the animals to roam freely in the yard at night ... Jon Davies ... assistant viticulturist at Seven Hills Vineyard,... We had planted a few new vineyards that were isolated and the deer were taking their fawns up there and training their fawns to hang out all day... I came up with the idea to put some dogs out there. Initially, last year, we started with one ... we have four dogs this year ... For me the training was territory boundaries so I would take them on the rounds - we have a set path along the boundary of the vineyard ... It has worked very well for the specific purpose of stopping deer damage... All about animals [herding urban deer with dogs] April 23, 2012 British Columbia, Cranbrook Daily Townsman A conference hosted by the Columbia Mountains Institute (CMI) ... "Urban Wildlife: Challenges and Management" ... Chris Jobe of Canine Solutions (caninesolutions.ca), from near Medicine Hat ... Using a quartet of ducks as a model and her border collie Fly, Jobe demonstrated a herding technique that was used last year in Waterton, which involved herding urban out of town just before fawning season. Jobe said the method worked remarkably well in Waterton, and added that she experienced not a single instance of aggression from the deer towards the dogs. She said the behaviour of the ducks while being herded was very similar to that of the deer (except the deer had a bigger "flight window"). [see Fly in action below] Deer struggled to survive in the deep snow of the 2007-08 winter in the Colorado mountains. This year, the mild winter has been a "godsend," according to ... Perry Will, area wildlife manager ,,, allows deer and elk to conserve more of their energy because they haven't been trudging through deep snow ... “Typically we don't see animals up that high,” ... prefer to stay at high elevations as long as weather allows, in part because they avoid predators and disturbances from humans and dogs ... |