Althouse: We're alive!

November 28, 2011

We're alive!

Deer congregate for the great end-of-deer-hunting-season celebration.

41 comments:

edutcher said...: I love it!

We had a similar congregation - only four of the deers - last week and a couple were strolling through our backyard Saturday.

Now that they're safe, it's OK to hang out and socialize.; 11/28/11, 10:58 AM
PaulV said...: In Virginia deer population has grown to an unsubstaniable level. Killing Bambi is now necessary or deer will die from starvation.; 11/28/11, 10:59 AM
Sorun said...: A few years ago I read that half the deer shot in Virginia are taken illegally, yet there are still too many. (Of course, who decides what is too many?); 11/28/11, 11:03 AM
David said...: Alive--but now comes winter and the starvation season.; 11/28/11, 11:05 AM
Psychedelic George said...: A buck dashed in front of my car on the interstate a few years ago. Car was a total loss. Could have been multiple fatalities.

I know a family that was also going down the interstate. Middle of the day. Deer sprang in front of their car, came in through the windshield, covering both parents in blood, completely freaking out the children. No fatalities or injuries.

You'd think genetic scientists could do something to dramatically lower the birth rate of these animals. You can't begin to cull them in suburban settings. The horror. People here actually feed the deer!; 11/28/11, 11:05 AM
Original Mike said...: “Almost as he fell, the gunfire died away and an appalling silence prevailed.”; 11/28/11, 11:09 AM
KCFleming said...: It's duck season!
No, it's wabbit season!; 11/28/11, 11:14 AM
ricpic said...: Yeah, they're alive to trample your garden and run into your car.; 11/28/11, 11:15 AM
PoNyman said...: Martha: We made it Stephanie.
Stephanie: Right on.
Cindy: Anyone seen Harry?; 11/28/11, 11:16 AM
jeff said...: Yes, noting like seeing a deer hobble across the lawn with a badly broken leg from getting hit by a car, as we go into winter.; 11/28/11, 11:22 AM
edutcher said...: Pogo said...

It's duck season!
No, it's wabbit season!

Right up there with, "Who's On First?".; 11/28/11, 11:24 AM
YoungHegelian said...: There are now an estimated 200 deer in Rock Creek Park in DC. In other words, there's 200 deer that are in a small strip of land that goes right down the middle of DC, so that they have easy access to the Mall, downtown, dense residential areas, and the major roads in and out of town. When I come back late at night through the Park, I often see half a dozen. Coming back from a concert on Oct. 30 at around 10:00PM, I counted 13.

Here's the Park's website

Oh, and I seen the (a?) coyote twice. Too bad they don't eat deer.; 11/28/11, 11:37 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Wow - that's cool:

Right after an Amazon post that doesn't allow comments, you do a post featuring the words "the commenter."

It's like you're walking around with a "KICK ME" sign on your back.

Hilarious.; 11/28/11, 11:41 AM
Hagar said...: Coyotes do not eat grown deer.

It's like cowboys roping deer. They only try that once.; 11/28/11, 11:45 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Crack You are easily amused.; 11/28/11, 11:49 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: My folks in MD are trying to get the deer on their land to stay put, because the season just opened there, and they're surrounded on most sides by enthusiastic hunters. Sooooo ... buckets of corn daily, and a salt lick, and trying to walk the dogs before the sun comes up and the deer are active.; 11/28/11, 11:57 AM
YoungHegelian said...: @Hagar,

I think you need a pack of coyotes before they'll attempt even a fawn. Not the onesy or twosy coyotes we have.

Remember: the fawn may be small and tender but Mom can still kick the shit out of any hungry coyote. And, a lot of times, Dad's around, too!

Strangely enough, the bucks hang with the does and fawns, unlike in the big woods wild. Maybe it's just too crowded for it to be otherwise. Or, maybe they're Mormon deer.; 11/28/11, 12:00 PM
rhhardin said...: Man is but a deer, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking deer. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him, the universe knows nothing of this. All our dignity then, consists in thought. By it we must elevate ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let us endavour then, to think well; this is the principle of morality.; 11/28/11, 12:05 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Psychedelic George,

A buck dashed in front of my car on the interstate a few years ago. Car was a total loss. Could have been multiple fatalities.

Yeah. I bet, in the event, there was at least one fatality.

I know a family that was also going down the interstate. Middle of the day. Deer sprang in front of their car, came in through the windshield, covering both parents in blood, completely freaking out the children. No fatalities or injuries.

Well, again, something must have been injured, or no one would've been covered in blood.

You'd think genetic scientists could do something to dramatically lower the birth rate of these animals. You can't begin to cull them in suburban settings. The horror. People here actually feed the deer!

Enh. It's not the birth rate. Do you imagine that deer have litters like cats? It's the absence of large predators. Which was the result of our previous experiments in "culling."

wv: corses; 11/28/11, 12:06 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @rhhardin,

Pascal, Pensees? Right?

Do I win what's behind the curtain where Carol is standing?

@Michelle,

Which was the result of our previous experiments in "culling."

The reason we "culled" those large predators was because they were big enough to periodically "cull" us!; 11/28/11, 12:12 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: My view is that they are becoming a nuisance in much of the country. Thanksgiving, I had to stop for six of them to cross the street. I honked, and instead of moving away, they moved in front of my car. That was up by my father's house in CO, where they have to put fencing around all the flowers and medium to young aspen trees. Maybe even worse in NW Montana this last summer, with upwards of a dozen visible in one field at a time in town.

My father and brothers live in the foothills west of Denver. I used to live on the other side of I-70, and we didn't have any deer. None. While they infest the other side. The difference? We had bear and mountain lions, plus a lot of turkeys (not that the later affect the deer population).

Maybe 15 years ago, by my parents' house, my ex was pulling off I-70, and a deer jumped into the passenger seat. Luckily, my kid was still in a car seat in the back.

As I said, they are a menace. My vote would be for year round open hunting until their population is brought down to sustainable levels.; 11/28/11, 12:27 PM
Titus said...: My sister hit a buck Thanksgiving night in Lodi.

Damager to her car was over 5000 buck.

Kill the fuckers.

tits.; 11/28/11, 12:31 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: YoungHegelian,

Well, of course. Though I think the "culling" of wolves had, and has, more to do with their impact on livestock than with their attacking humans. Mountain lions and bears are another story -- hikers do occasionally get killed, and the cats in particular do wander into populated areas and cause mass hysteria.

I wonder, though, whether anyone has compared human deaths due to deer/car collisions with human deaths due to large predators? I think I can guess which number's bigger. Even if you throw in the sharks.; 11/28/11, 12:35 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Are they pests? Depends, doesn't it? I grew up in a house built in what used to be an apple orchard, and so naturally we had deer all over the place in winter, rooting out apples from under the snow. And they did basically eat our nascent privet hedge, with considerable help from the rabbits.

You know what? I can deal with that. They're just a wonder to see. I was walking to the grocery store a couple of weeks back, and an eight-point buck crossed the street in front of me.

wv: alinthes; 11/28/11, 12:42 PM
William said...: The good looks of deer work both for and against them. They look like they would probably taste good, but they're so graceful you feel guilty about offing them. There are no such ethical qualms about wart hogs. That's probably why our suburban gardens are not overrun with wart hogs. Maybe over time wart hogs will evolve into a prettier creature with a cute fluffy tail.; 11/28/11, 12:51 PM
chuckR said...: Air powered pellet gun. You want to keep it subsonic. Annoys the hell out of them. You could try a slingshot, if it isn't illegal in your state (it is in mine).
Deer are the only reason I wish for a long harsh winter with lots of snow cover.; 11/28/11, 1:05 PM
Irene said...: Althouse, thanks for the link. I saw the buck this morning; he made it, too.; 11/28/11, 1:51 PM
Michael McNeil said...: If deer are congregating in large numbers why can't whoever it is just go outside and grab a shot or two for us to see instead of interjecting a picture from March of 2007?; 11/28/11, 2:39 PM
Irene said...: Because the March 2007 photo is better.; 11/28/11, 2:41 PM
John said...: Great picture Irene. And your poodle is super cute. Big poodles are great dogs.; 11/28/11, 3:11 PM
Michael McNeil said...: “Better,” how? Being taken in March, it's certainly not a shot of deer exuberant after surviving hunting season — and in that sense it's fake!; 11/28/11, 4:01 PM
Irene said...: Gee, Michael, it's the thought that counts.; 11/28/11, 4:09 PM
Ralph L said...: Last year, between deer and drought, my employers lost 30 some acres of soybeans. It hardly looked like anything had been planted, yet it had been done twice. Thankfully, they were insured. They also hit two deer with their cars in the last year.

I saw a fox in my yard, in the middle of town, in the middle of the night. Also saw a possum and a cat facing off.; 11/28/11, 4:42 PM
Dan said...: still got muzzle loader season this week and bow season till the end of the year. They better not take it too easy...; 11/28/11, 5:01 PM
ndspinelli said...: As is often the case, Crack nails the irony. We all like Irene, I wish she would join us more often. Maybe if she just ordered from Amazon, via Althouse? I'll even consider ordering from Amazon via Althouse if we see more from Irene.; 11/28/11, 6:03 PM
ndspinelli said...: Irene..you saw Joe Buck? Was Ratzo Rizzo w/ him" Did he bark, "I'm walkin' here."; 11/28/11, 6:04 PM
ndspinelli said...: Titus, Was she "stuck in Lodi" after the accident?; 11/28/11, 6:06 PM
Irene said...: Ha ha, ndspinelli!; 11/28/11, 6:07 PM
Titus said...: Spinelli she lives in Lodi...on my dad's farm.; 11/28/11, 6:47 PM
Browndog said...: If only you could burn some coal, generate some electricity, refine some oil, to gas up your car-

Go to the market, and swipe your credit card-

For a healthy meal-

Oh, the barbarism of the deer hunter.

Been stealing from the woods (I see them sometimes on computer graphics) for thousands of years..

To feed his family; to nourish his pregnant wife as to give birth to a healthy son.

But, sip your wine. Read your best seller; giggle at your place in life...fashionably-

I'll take my deer. I'll give thanks, and feel sorrow for the fallen.

I can read your books;sip your wine; wear your fashions-

And....still eat healthy when the credit card doesn't swipe; 11/28/11, 7:40 PM
amba said...: A sort of cervine Eid al-Fitr . . .; 11/29/11, 9:35 AM