There’s a new “gang” infiltrating the streets of Stanley. A herd of deer has been making the rounds on North Broadway between 8th and 10th Avenues. While this gang isn’t the type to make …
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There’s a new “gang” infiltrating the streets of Stanley. A herd of deer has been making the rounds on North Broadway between 8th and 10th Avenues. While this gang isn’t the type to make trouble, they have been known to stop traffic as they take over the streets. What started as a small herd has quickly grown in number to a herd of roughly 20 deer. For white tail deer their most active times usually occur around dawn and dusk with occasional increases overnight. Deer are also creatures of habit and typically bed in the same location and take the same daily path. The North Broadway herd seems to follow a similar pattern. Misty Karlen, a North Broadway resident, describes, “They bed down by the Wolf River at the back of our property. There’s usually a normal group of seven that come through. It’s probably three adults and last year’s fawns. But sometimes there’s 20 that come through.” The deer are known to cross before sunset and then come back with the morning. The herd hasn’t bothered area residents but keep to themselves eating shrubs and whatever fell out of the trees from the last snowstorm. Deer are mostly herbivores, eating leaves, twigs, grass, and berries but if food is scarce, they have been known to eat insects and small animals.
Deer overpopulation continues to be a widespread issue across the country. While Wisconsin has 1.6 million white-tailed deer, there are approximately 36 million deer in the United States. While this herd seems to number under twenty, deer herds can range from just a few deer to hundreds depending on three factors: local population, species of deer, and time of year. If left unchecked, deer populations in city areas can double within three or four years. Time will tell how big this herd will get but soon it may even larger. After all, spring is the time for fawns.
A local deer herd has been frequenting the area between 8th and 10th Avenues, bedding down near the Wolf River. Photo by Danielle Boos.
The site of the old Moon Park off Ninth Avenue is a favorite spot for the herd to hang out.. Photo by Danielle Boos.
