by Connie Oswald Stofko
If you feed deer in your backyard or at a park, you could be harming them instead of helping them. Bringing deer together at feeding sites increases their risk of contracting communicable diseases, such as chronic wasting disease, from other deer.
That’s why the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) prohibited deer feeding anywhere in New York State back in 2002.
Recently the DEC adopted a new regulation to provide a clearer definition of what does and does not constitute illegal feeding of deer. (Moose are also covered under this regulation, though I haven’t seen any moose in Western New York!)
For example, bird feeders can supply food for deer, even if you’re not trying to feed the deer. The new regulation clarifies that incidental feeding with a bird feeder will be considered a violation only if DEC has previously issued a written warning to the person responsible for the incidental feeding. This allows nuisance situations to be addressed without limiting bird feeding in general.
Other exceptions to the feeding prohibition include:
- Planting vegetation associated with agriculture or horticulture
- Plantings that enhance wildlife habitat conditions
- Feeding livestock
The regulation also establishes procedures for the legal use of a certain pesticide and device that kills ticks on deer, even though it uses corn to attract deer. 4-PosterTM Tickicide is dispensed via four rollers, or “posts,” attached to bait stations filled with corn. As deer eat the corn, the rollers deposit pesticide on their heads and necks. Tick-borne diseases pose a health threat to humans, so it’s in the public interest to use these devices in areas with high tick-borne disease rates, according to DEC.
The new regulation also requires retail products packaged for sale as food or edible attractants for wild deer or moose to carry a label clearly stating that such use is illegal in New York.
Feeding deer can be harmful
Feeding deer can be harmful to the deer, to humans and to the environment.
Feeding deer can:
- Increase the number of deer-vehicle collisions.
- Get deer used to human presence, leading to other dangerous interactions between deer and humans.
- Damage the natural habitat. Deer being fed also eat vegetation in the surrounding area, which can lead to overbrowsing. Plants in that area can be damaged or destroyed by the deer. The result is a habitat that supports fewer animals. In turn, the deer become dependent on artificial feeding.
- Decreased nutrition for deer during winter. Deer are ruminants similar to cows and have a multi-chambered stomach with a complicated digestive process. If the type of food the deer consume is suddenly changed through feeding by humans, it can take considerable time for the digestive process to adapt to the new food. The animal can receive little nutrition when it needs it most.
- Negatively affect deer behavior, leading to increased social conflict among deer.
- Alter the migratory movements of deer to critical wintering areas.
Hi Harper, with your mention of alligators, I think you don’t live in Western New York. Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com addresses the conditions in Western New York.
I live in a neighborhood where there are 25 deer that have lived here for years. They have no where to go but our yards, as more and more new construction occurs. People do feed them or they wouldn’t survive. There are only a few trees left and ponds with alligators. I leave out pots of water and feed them fruit. I know other neighbors do as well. I know it sounds odd but I wish they could be neutered and spayed like dogs and cats. I do not touch them but they are very tame and sweet.
Hi Fred, the thing is, if you feed the deer, it brings them into close contact with each other. That helps spread chronic wasting disease. It’s fun feeding the deer, and it might make you feel good, but it’s not good for the deer.
Another case of a government study telling you what you should and shouldn’t do.
I feed deer daily, including wild turkey, squirrel, raccoon, certain birds and whatever else wanders in. Furthermore, I thank God for allowing me to afford it and no law will ever change that as long as I’m alive.
I feed deer in my yard. It’s legal where I live. I live deep in the forest in a cabin full time. I am not putting them in danger, because I live amongst them, the don’t have to go anywhere to get here. I feed the deer organic apples and cob mix. I don’t feed them every day, yesterday I had 26 deer in my
Hi Keith, as you can see in the article, our situation in New York State means that feeding the deer is actually bad for the deer.
It isn’t illegal to feed deer where we live, and at minus 35-40 Celsius, after freezing rain which left more than a quarter inch of ice on everything, I think they just appreciate it. The deer here are only fed during extreme cold, which we’ve had in abundance this winter. There is a store in Canada which sells chop and corn for deer.
Hi Sarah, as it says in the article, deer have a multi-chambered stomach with a complicated digestive process. If the type of food the deer consume is suddenly changed through feeding by humans, it can take considerable time for the digestive process to adapt to the new food. The animal can receive little nutrition when it needs it most. So, yes, that’s a problem too.
I’m glad you find the articles helpful.
Furthermore, I understood from our wildlife management here in VA that deer’s digestive systems cannot handle so much food in the winter season. If they eat too much, their digestive systems are overloaded.
Does this info concur with yours?
Sarah
P.S. Thank you so much for your kind regards toward deer and wildlife.
Also I saw a photo of a possum eating ticks off a deer.
Hi Joyce, first, muntjacs are native to Asia. Are you seeing one in Western New York?
Second, I don’t know what is wrong with the deer you are seeing. If it’s a contagious disease, you definitely aren’t helping the deer herd.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation tracks the health of deer. If you see a deer that is acting strangely–and that deer definitely is–report it to the wildlife office in your area. See contact information here.
I know your heart is in the right place, but feeding deer in Western New York isn’t helpful to the deer.
OMG – I have a deer muntjac in my garden, he has been here for over a month eating the apples we throw out to him every day along with carrots and cucumber, he had an injured right leg which has now got better, but one morning his other leg was bleeding and he is now limping, last night we noticed that one of his horns had come off, am i doing something wrong, we have put a large dog bed out with straw so he can sleep, it is near an outer wall, he seems to rely on us for his food, but judging what I am seeing with the information we are doing the wrong thing right?
Hi Peggy, in New York State, you can’t feed deer in your yard. You can find more information here.
Is it illegal to feed these deer that neighbors are doing in their yards?
There’s a particular woman on Facebook who started off feeding 1 Deer in her backyard. Here it is a month later? And now she has up to 10 Deers in her yard (Last time I counted, that is! 🙄) She posts many Video on FB of them eating. She has given them names; (Like) Buckley, Molly and Prince. All of them have a name!. (My thing is?) How can she tell them apart?. She claims to be able to talk to them!. She feeds them: Corn, Grapes, and Watermelon. Although there are many Pans of food in the back yard? The Deers don’t seem to want to share. She is also asking her Viewers, to send her money through “Cash App” to help feed them! 😢 If a Viewer makes a comment; That she should not feed the Deers? She gets very upset and starts to Curse! 🤯 (Then?) She will let everyone know? That she has “Blocked” that person 😡Although she thinks it’s cute to feed these Deers, and receive hundreds of “Likes and Hearts” on her Videos? These Deers are depending on her to be fed; when she wakes up in the morning, to see them sitting around in her yard!. I really don’t know if she will continue to feed them during the Winter.(Thanks for Reading 😊)
Hi Colleen, the problem isn’t that the deer will give the disease to people. The problem is that if the deer get used to people, they will hang around people, leading to dangerous interactions between deer and humans. Please read the article again to see why feeding deer isn’t a good idea. If you love deer, you shouldn’t feed them.
I have a little buck that’s been coming around and I’ve watched him grow I feed him bread every day he’s stares in my kitchen window and waits for me to come out with it I don’t hand feed him I throw it in the yard and I love him. I enjoy seeing God’s creation in my yard I am an avid believer that animals should not be hunted!even though I know dear carry disease I keep my distance I don’t pet him I just enjoy seeing him
When I first moved to my home in a nice subdivision, I had beautiful flower beds and a small vegetable garden. NO MORE. The deer became more plentiful. Now two neighbors are feeding the deer. My neighbor feeds a deer I call “Loppy”. One of it’s ears was damaged. This year I planted “deer resistant” flowers around my deck. Only the flowers were eaten off. So, I got up at 6 am and looked outside. Loppy had 2 baby bambies, little spotted creatures, and there they were, eating my flowers. Loppy is tame. You can’t scare her away. I am on a fixed income and cannot afford fences. So I mixed up a concoction of eggs, garlic powder, ground cloves, and Dawn detergent. I sprayed it on my flowers. I just did it, so I’ll see if it works for a while. Last year, I put deer netting on the shrubs in my front yard. I hung bags of Irish Spring on them. It worked. But I got the netting hung on my lawnmower twice. My neighbor has tons of enclosed fences, very tall. She has a huge garden, orchard, ornamental bushes, flowers, etc. But she has money and 2 sons to help. Also, there are about a dozen deer in my front yard when I return home in the evening. I have also ran into a deer with my car, a small Nissan, and tore up the front of it, and do not know where the deer went. Poor thing! ( $500 deductible.) So, PLEASE DON”T FEED THE DEER!
Hi Ingrid, this is a job for Miss Manners, but I’ll do my best. You say you have tried hinting. Perhaps it would be better to be polite, but direct. Try: “I wish you wouldn’t set out bait for the deer because it can spread disease among the deer. Besides, my dad and I like to hunt on our land, but your bait draws the deer off of our property and we never even see deer. Can you help us out by not setting out bait on your land? We’d really appreciate it.”
I hope that helps!
Hi my next door neighbors feed the deer constantly on their 80 acres of land. There are never deer in my woods anymore anytime of the year especially not hunting season. I’m very close with my neighbors and I don’t want to come out as rude so how should I tell them to stop? I’ve tried hinting at them but they don’t stop. And they also hunt so it feels unfair when he just got an 8 point buck in the second hunting day because he baits them and me and my dad get nothing after weeks of sitting in the stand. I need help!!! I see deer all the time when I’m at their house but there’s never any at ours.
Hi Barb,
I would print out this article and take it over to your neighbor. Your neighbors are probably feeding the deer because they like the deer. If your neighbors learn that they may be making the deer sick or even killing them, they will probably stop feeding the deer.
If your neighbors do want to help the deer, the DEC supplies this information: The best way to improve deer survival through winter is to improve the quality of their summer and fall habitat and natural food sources. Additionally, cutting trees and brush in deer winter yards makes the browse in the tops of the trees or brush accessible to deer. This browse is the food deer are adapted to eat in the winter. This cutting can only be done on private land with the permission of the landowner. It cannot be done on state forest preserve land and requires permits on other state lands. The landowner can use the trunks of the trees for firewood or timber, leaving the tops for deer to eat. Anyone interested in providing browse to deer by cutting trees or brush can contact their regional DEC deer biologist for suggestions on tree species and quantities or visit the winter deer foods page.
I hope that helps!
I have a neighbor feeding the deer. Last year we saw 3 in the lot next to his, now we saw 12 last night. He started putting pumpkins out in the fall and now has a table with food for them. We have tracks all through our yard and I am sure my garden will be their salad bowl when the hostas and day lilies start to grow. Has anyone had this problem and what did you do?