Virginia Asks Residents Not To Feed The Deer

Grace Palo

WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The Fairfax County Police Department is reaching out to individuals and reminding them that it is illegal statewide to feed deer for any reason from September through January.

While many residents may feel that they are contributing to the deer’s welfare by providing food,feeding deer can have some serious unintended consequences and often does more harm than good.

“It’s all one big part of the puzzle and strategy to manage the deer population,” said Gotthardt, spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department said to WMAL.com

“Feeding deer can lead to nutritional problems, increased habitat damage where high density herds are concentrated, dangerous encounters when animals lose their natural fear of humans and feeding can facilitate the spread of diseases among wildlife that congregate in feeding areas,” it says in a statement released by the Fairfax County Police Department.

“Unfortunately, feeding deer can do more harm than good, because it really affects the nutritional needs of the deer,” Gotthardt said. “Everyone looks at deer, thinking they’re cute, and the natural inclination is to feed them but if you’re getting close enough to feed deer it can create potentially dangerous situations between people and the animals. We don’t want wild animals to lose their natural fear of humans.”

The ban specifically restricts placing or distributing any food, salt, or mineral for any purpose if its end result leads to attraction/feeding of the deer in the area.