Deer in Maplewood

There is a small herd of about 6 deer in Maplewood near Irvington ave. I see them crossing at night from Maplewoid to Newark behind the Ivy Hill plaza  mall. Today one darted out in traffic alone almost getting hit. Is there anyone to contact as 2 seem to be pretty young. 

Yesterday as I was taking my daily walk, a deer casually stepped out of my neighbor's yard via the open gate. It proceeded to calmly munch on some berries dropped from a tree as we contemplated each other from a distance of no more than ten feet and sometimes closer as it walked closer to me.

Three cars went by and the drivers might have assumed I was walking my deer. 

the_18th_letter said:

There is a small herd of about 6 deer in Maplewood near Irvington ave. I see them crossing at night from Maplewoid to Newark behind the Irvington plaza strip mall. Today one darted out in traffic alone almost getting hit. Is there anyone to contact as 2 seem to be pretty young. 

 THere is no body to contact unless a deer is injured.  This is their land as much as our's.

bella said:

 THere is no body to contact unless a deer is injured.  This is their land as much as our's.

 That's what I was hoping to avoid, one getting killed or injured. I believe they initially wandered into the area during the early part of the Covid shutdown due to less traffic noise people etc. Theyve eaten food in my yard a few times and once had a late coffee with me but until now, with the world opening back up, there didnt seem to be any threat to their safety. Theyve also been separated, maybe due to fireworks, as the largest group I've seen in last few weeks is 3. 

There are 3 or 4 roaming our neighborhood, between Valley and Prospect around the Maplewood municipal building.  There seem to be more deer around this summer, munching on the tastier plants (they do a number on the hosta).

My theory is that the more numerous deer is related to the serious reduction in traffic through the reservation, and on the roads in general, that started mid-March.  The deer became bolder, and any that might have been hit closer to the reservation are instead still around to roam farther afield.

They’ve been here awhile. Last summer there was a buck who kept hanging out at the preschool next to the Ivy Plaza shopping center.  I saw him more than once when visiting my mom

Tell ya one thing... if I catch one of them eating my blueberries, there’s gonna be an a$$ kicked.

spontaneous said:

They’ve been here awhile. Last summer there was a buck who kept hanging out at the preschool next to the Ivy Plaza shopping center.  I saw him more than once when visiting my mom

 Ok. I hadn't seen any before the shutdown but that's exactly where I've seen them go also after leaving my yard. 

NJ has a deer problem (overproduction, and lack of predators).  Each female produces 25-30 fawns in her life (1 first summer, 2-3 each summer thereafter).  While the eastern coyote (really a coy/wolf/dog mix) has come back, their limited numbers have little impact.  I have heard that there is a single cougar up in the Kinnelon area, but one cat can only eat so much meat.

With urban sprawl, there is no longer adequate forest & meadow land to support the herd, so they encroach on the buffets, I mean gardens, we have laid out for them.  And yes, several summer behind the municipal building.

If I remember correctly, some 30,000 are killed by cars each year, while hunters take 60-80,000.  Yet, the numbers keep going up (total herd is probably around 250,000).  That's why Essex Cty has to cull the herd in the reservations, both here** and in the Eagle Rock park.  And, that's why there is fencing in the reservation, an attempt at bringing back a healthy forrest ecosystem, with diverse undergrowth.

On this background, there is no entity that will look out for the welfare of a single deer.

** The South Mountain reservation, used in part as a public park, can officially support a herd of 88 deer.  Pre-culling, they did a check (plane with infrared cameras flew over at night).  At that time, the local herd was about 490 deer.

I fully accept the need for the culling but have to admit thst when I see a deer or a family of them darting through the Rez, it puts a smile on my face that they managed to evade the executioners, at least for a while.   Head v. heart.