The dear deer of Sisters

On just about any given day or night you can stumble over the so-called "wild" mule deer that call the city of Sisters home. In springtime they drop their fawns around Sisters Elementary School, much to the delight of those that love to see all those dear deer in their backyard. However, their presence is much to the fear and trepidation of those of us who know what damage those dear animals can do to a poor, unsuspecting human being.

The recent incident of the kids who chased those dear deer for the fun of it, resulting in the death of one of the animals is only the beginning of what we can expect as the Sisters' deer population grows. The more people feed deer, the more they're going to stick around town and multiply, and that will lead to more personal exchanges between man and beast.

"Begetting" is a way of life, especially when there's plenty of food and shelter available.

The business of the kids that caused the death of that so-called wild animal - that is the property of the State of Oregon - has been about thrashed to death by concerned citizens over the past few weeks, but I'd like to add some thoughts about the incident as well.

"Boys will be boys" works for me, BUT there should have been some degree of justice. Steven George said it right when he stated that what those eager-beaver kids did was illegal. Period. If an adult had chased the deer with an OHV or other motor vehicle the stuff would have hit the fan - as it should.

But seeing as it was a foot chase, and kids being kids, the law was overlooked. Though based on good citizenship and concern for the kids, is as not a good idea to side-step justice.

All the publicity the incident has received is going to help everyone to see that it never happens again, which is good for all involved. Had that chase, however, been taken up with a doe who was trying to keep her fawn safe the outcome would have been very different, and it wouldn't have been the deer that got damaged.

Let anyone who has the thought of doing what those kids did keep that in mind. If you have seen what a dear deer can do with its front feet to a human's face and chest you would never take up a foot chase.

I am the last person in the world to point a finger at a young person and say, "Oh, you nasty little boy!" When I was that age I shot and killed a Great Horned Owl for no reason - except it flew by me and I raised my trusty old single-shot .22 and drilled it dead center. But my grandfather made sure justice was served. When I came walking back to the farm carrying my trophy he asked me why I shot it. That discussion is in my book if you want to know how it went down; the bottom line was I received my first lesson in ecological thinking and I had to eat what I shot.

I think the boys who killed the deer should have been given that same form of justice. They should have had the opportunity to gut it out, skin it, hang it to cure, cut it up into eatable proportions and then shared it with the neighbors at a potluck in the fire hall community room. I hope it wasn't just tossed into the ODOT graveyard for the coyotes.

Those of us who have these domesticated deer romping through our gardens, eating our "kitchen garden" and front yard posies, are not too thrilled with the dear animals. Like the abominable feral cats, deer beget more feral deer that eventually become city residents. However, under all that domesticity there is a wild animal, and given the right circumstances it will come to the surface and then all hell will break loose.

If you have followed the saga of "Snowball," the deer over in the Valley that was taken in by well-meaning citizens and (sort of) domesticated, and what that debacle is costing the taxpayers in money (over $80,000 at the last count) - and the emotional trauma to the poor people who raised the beast - you'd think twice before putting out a salt block or feed deer in your back yard.

Hay growers can file a complaint with ODFW when deer (and elk) plunder their hay stacks and either be reimbursed or receive financial assistance to put up fencing. The same right should be available to people who have deer (that are, remember, the property of Oregon) tromping through their yards eating daisies and veggies gardeners work so hard to raise.