Oh Deer!

Regular visitors to our Museum have no doubt seen or heard one of our four-legged visitors on the Paw Paw Nature Trail… a white-tailed deer.

The many deer you may have seen frequently enters and exits the Museum’s grounds of its own accord. Deer have a range of approximately two square miles and often seek refuge in areas providing shelter, food and water. The natural supply of nuts and woody material on the Paw Paw Nature Trail and nearby greenway, and the abundant water supply from Little Sugar Creek create an ideal habitat. The neighborhood surrounding the Museum has a significant white-tailed deer population with regular reports of sightings of individuals and groups in residential backyards.

Please resist the urge to feed the deer in your backyard or ours. This may be harmful as it could increase the deer’s travel range, metabolic function and give them a false sense of food supply. Additionally, feeding deer may cause an increase in their population which may result in predation, higher incidence of vehicle collisions, and them becoming habituated (accustomed to human interaction).

To learn more about urban wildlife, we invite you to come in and chat with a naturalist or reply to this post about wildlife you have seen in your backyard.

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