Oh deer: The Columbian black-tailed deer rule the front yards of the Bay Area

The Columbian black-tailed deer rule the front yards of the Bay Area

KAI yoSHIDA

Why are there so many deer in and around Belmont and San Carlos? They always seem to be frolicking on our lawns, chowing down on freshly planted flowers, or being a general nuisance on the streets.

This is actually a country-wide phenomenon. According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, 30 million white-tailed deer call the United States their home — that’s almost one deer for every 10 Americans.

But their abundance was not always the case. According to the U.S. Forest Service, from 1850 to 1900, the U.S.’s deer population hit an all-time low of 300,000 as hunters sought their hides for trade and meat for food.

Although hunting is declining, other factors, such as distracted driving, remain a major threat to the deer population. According to State Farm, there are around 1.25 million crashes between cars and deer, elk, and moose annually.

A big reason for the deer comeback is the decline of their enemies. Since 1900, several laws have restricted deer hunting. Furthermore, the population of the deer’s natural predators, wolves and mountain lions, has grown scarce.

Another contributor to the large deer population is that deer share Americans’ love for the suburbs. Deer are an edge species. They hover around areas where separate plant communities meet: a forest and a grassy plain or the woodlands and someone’s front yard, for example. Thus, they thrive in the ecologically fragmented neighborhoods of American suburbs.

The plants in our front gardens are better tended, better fertilized, and overall more nutritious than those in the wild. Hence, suburban deer are fatter, bigger, and squishier, according to former UC Berkeley Professor Dale R. McCullough.

Protected from predators and presented to numerous “all you can eat buffets,” the suburban deer of the Bay Area thrive, living their lives in comfort.