Urban Deer Havens consists of a thorough examination of selected cervid (deer) species that are known to inhabit urban communities in the United States. The deer species that are included in this presentation consisted of white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus), Key deer (O. v. clavium), moose (Alces alces), elk (Cervus elaphus), mule (Odocoileus hemionus), and black-tailed deer (O. h. columbianus). This book is the first attempt to examine the similarities and differences in those factors that allow the selected cervids to exist and thrive in urban habitats. This information has never been collected, collated, reviewed, and published under one cover document. Yet, all five are known to inhabit urban communities within their geographic range.
The lack of information concerning several important examples of urban cervids in conjunction with a proliferation of information on white-tailed deer only is an incomplete and biased presentation. This book is the first comprehensive source of information on urban deer management, which includes a broad assemblage of urban cervids.
The overall objective of this book is to provide a more holistic examination of urban cervids. For example, it examines the similarities and differences of the environmental impacts, management strategies, and human dimensions considerations concerning urban cervids in general, and using specific examples.
Urban Deer Havens features four chapters that include:
- Urban deer census techniques and population dynamics
- Comprehensive tables that review urban community deer management plans
- National and state-wide estimates the five selected cervids
- Laws and regulations concerning urban deer
- Lethal and nonlethal management options for managing deer
- Steps for managing urban deer populations
- Examples of urban deer management efforts
1 Urban Deer Introduction
Deer Are a Mixed Blessing
Terminology
Bureau of Census Definition of Urban
Ecological Definition of Urban
Definition of Deer
Deer Characteristics that Identify Them as Mammals
Deer Characteristics that Identify Them as Cervids
Deer Characteristics that Identify Them as Different Species or Subspecies
Contemporary Relevance of a Text on Urban Deer
Urbanization = Collision of An Invasive Hyperkeystone Species With a Keystone
Humans (Homo sapiens) are the Invasive Species
Humans as a Hyperkeystone Species
Deer as a Keystone Species
Reviews of published literature
2 Urban Neighborhoods Guarantee Deer Occupation
Factors That Contributed To Deer Abundance in Urban America
Counting Deer
Census Techniques
The Census Process
Direct Count
Application of direct count as a population estimate procedure
Application of Trap/Mark/ Release as a population estimate procedure
Application of distance sampling as a population estimate procedure.
Harvest Recommendations Based on Census Data
Deer Population Estimates: Money Not Well Spent
National and state-wide estimates of deer numbers
3 Overabundant Urban Deer
Deer Management in Urban Areas When Compared to Rural Areas
The Scope of the Problem
Population Dynamics
How Populations Grow
Population Growth Rate Patterns
History of deer abundance
Factors leading to deer overabundance
Biological Carrying Capacity
Problems associated with deer overabundance
Deer-vehicle collisions
Disease transmission
Ecological Impact of Urban Deer Overabundance
Laws and Regulations Concerning Urban Deer
Who’s in charge of managing urban deer?
Who’s in charge of regulating urban deer?
Management options in Texas
Hunting
The Tale of Two Cities
Background
Need for Educational Program Development
4 Urban Deer Management Planning: Process, Progress, and Problems
Steps for Managing Urban Deer Populations
Suburban White-tailed deer Management
Driving factors
State Urban Deer Management Plans
Who are you going to call?
Commitment to Urban Deer Management
Appendix
Examples of Online Citizen’s Survey on Urban Deer Ecology and Management
Biography
Clark E. Adams was an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (WFSC) at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He received a B.S. in biology from Concordia Teachers College, Seward, Nebraska; an M.S. in biology from the University of Oregon; and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He chaired the Conservation Education Committee for The Wildlife Society (TWS), edited the newsletter for the Human Dimensions of Wildlife Study Group, was a member of the Urban Wildlife Management Working Group, and chaired many committees for the Texas Chapter of TWS. He was a past president of the Texas Chapter of TWS and TWS Southwest Section. Since 1981, he and his students conducted and published many national, regional, and statewide studies on the public’s activities, attitudes, expectations, and knowledge concerning wildlife. He developed the degree option in urban wildlife and fisheries management for the WFSC, and developed and taught the senior-level urban wildlife management course. He was the senior author on two other books titled Texas Rattlesnake Roundups (Texas A&M Press, 2008) and Urban Wildlife Management 3rd (Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 2016). He was the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Achievement in Urban Wildlife Conservation award from the TWS Urban Wildlife Working Group. Adams completed a 51-year teaching and research career on August 31, 2015.
Cassandra LaFleur Villarreal has worked as an Environmental Specialist in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over five years specializing in water quality. She received her B.S. in wildlife and fisheries sciences from Texas A&M University in 2014. Cassandra developed an interest in urban wildlife after taking an Urban Wildlife Management course in 2012. In 2013, she began working for Dr. Clark E. Adams as a student worker. While working for Dr. Adams, Cassandra contributed to Urban Wildlife Management, 3rd ed. She developed an alternative method of examining urban biodiversity using literature (peer-reviewed articles and field guides), rehabilitation center intake data, national data sets on bird species per state, and mapping methods such as Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). She conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between a species resident by state(s) and observation of that species in an urban setting. This analysis included all native species of terrestrial herpetofauna, birds, and mammals known to exist in the United States. Her analysis and results let to the production of an entire new section and five new chapters in the third edition.
