Post 24

The faint path on the forest floor before you is a “run,” an informal trail created by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) as they travel from sleeping areas to feeding areas. Deer are grossly overpopulated today throughout eastern North America. Their population has been growing for many years, due to the extirpation of their predators throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, recent declines in deer hunting, and the proliferation of suburban and exurban mixed landscapes that produce abundant food. Various initiatives to reduce the deer herd in recent years have had mixed results.