Every year wildlife, including deer, bear, wild boar, beavers and many more, destroy thousands of acres of farmer’s crops. In 2010 it is reported that in North Carolina, wildlife damaged $29.4 million in crops. Wildlife damage hurts farmer’s yields and also hurts the plants health. They affect almost all crops; while mainly affecting corn, soybeans and peanuts, and can cost the farmer hundreds even thousands of dollars in lost yield. Wildlife damage also hurts the crops health. This could lead to diseases being spread through the crops and even in rare cases to humans. Identifying which animal did the damage is an important part in stopping the damage. Each animal leaves signs that help farmers identify the type of animal doing the damage. The next step after identifying the animal, is stopping the animal from damaging the crops. There are many ways farmers can do so, traps, special permits, and noise deterrence. Each farmer must decide how they are going to deal with the wildlife causing damage.
Identifying an animal that is causing damage to crops can be fairly easy if you know what to look for. Tracks, type of damage, and scat are three big identifiers. Each animal leaves distinct signs that can help farmers identify that animal.
Deer are probably the most widely known animal in the United States. They damage thousands of farm acres each year. Identifying a deer is fairly simple. Deer have hooves instead of feet. They are two toed and their toes make a “V” when they step. They can weigh anywhere from 50 to 400 pounds depending on the deer’s habitat and diet. Most deer are brown with white chests and a white underbelly. Male deer have antlers which some farmers may see signs of antler rubbing in their crops. White-tailed dee...
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...ly deter animals from entering. A woven fence is usually the best option of fencing. They require little maintenance but can be a little costly if used for a big field. Fencing can be used to keep wildlife such as deer, bear, wild hogs, beavers and many other wildlife out of the enclosed area. Since fencing is so expensive, farmers must decide if there is enough damage that a fence needs to be put into place and also the value of the crop being fenced in.
Farmers can also use noise deterrence to keep animals from causing damage to crops. Noise deterrence involves farmers using loud noises to scare off animals. This is usually done while the animals are in the field committing damage. Propane canons are usually used for this because they can deliver a loud bang and do not shoot a projectile. Using blanks in a gun can also work but is not as loud as a propane canon.
There are too many deer in the Wesselman Woods. The deer have eaten all the flowers and other flora. There have also been 8 car crashes involving deer, this imposes a dangerous threat to the civilians of Evansville. The deer have been invading people’s yards and eating their gardens. The deer are causing many problems that can’t be solved until the deer population is reduced.
The U.S. Department of Interior’s, Bureau of Land Management, (BLM) was appointed to carry out the Act and given the task of managing the herds of wild horses and burros. Consequently, BLM’s management of wild horse herds has been highly criticized by animal rights activists, horse advocates, news media, as well as members of Congress. There have been numerous lawsuits filed against BLM regarding their management practices and their appalling wild horse round-ups. However, unimpeded BLM continues with the controversial issue of wild horse round-ups, resulting in the death and injury of many wild horses and burros. The vast majority of these round...
Claimed land boundaries could only be distinguished from open range by the people that owned the claimed land for quite a while. This would obviously become controversial when one person claimed that they owned this land for so many years, and then another settler decides that they claimed the land first. The invention of barbed wire helped to end the disputes over land by defining claimed land boundaries with fences topped with the sharp, twisted wire. While the invention of fencing brought an end to the idea of an open range for cattle drivers and the romanticized cowboys of the West, it also helped farmers and ranchers define the area of their land. Before the invention of barbed wire, people were forced to use shrubs and other types of plants that could define their land—with the lack of trees on the open plains, it was hard to find raw material to create an actual fence to claim their land. Ba...
Like most nonnative, invasive species, feral swine (Sus scrofa) in the United States has an increasingly negative impact on native plants. If left unchecked, feral swine will become responsible for the permanent destruction of many plant communities as well as endangering native plant populations.
The author provides information describing the deer population in parts of New Jersey; yet, he does not include any data regarding the population in the rest of the United States, nor does he include any sources of where this information was obtained. A reader may be more
In the last decade, from the Rockies to New England and the Deep South, rural and suburban areas have been beset by white-tailed deer gnawing shrubbery and crops, spreading disease and causing hundreds of thousands of auto wrecks. But the deer problem has proved even more profound, biologists say. Fast-multiplying herds are altering the ecology of forests, stripping them of native vegetation and eliminating niches for other wildlife. ' 'I don 't want to paint deer as Eastern devils, ' ' said Dr. McShea, a wildlife biologist associated with the National Zoo in Washington, ' 'but this is indicative of what happens when an ecosystem is out of whack. ' ' The damage is worse than anyone expected, he and other scientists say. Higher deer densities have affected growth, survival, and reproduction of many plant species which have aesthetic, economic or ecological value. In some cases, many species of trees have also been shown to have reduced growth as a result of high deer density (Environmental Benefits of Hunting, 1). Deer prefer certain plant species over others and frequently feed on economically valuable tree species. For example, they prefer oak and sugar maple seedlings, as well as acorns, over less palatable species like American Beech and striped maple. Thus, less marketable species are more likely to survive to maturity,
White tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are one of the most common species of mammals seen in North America, the most common of large animals actually. The last official count of deer in the USA and Canada was done in 1982, at which time 15000000 were found at an average of 3 deer in every square kilometer. The deer are very much native and were hunted even by Native Americans.
Many predators kill thousands of farm animals each year and need to be put to a stop. People...
citizens backyard are all at risk of being damaged beyond repair. Invasive species affect the
Many of the sources documented in her piece are unreliable. These “cases” were accidents, resulting from careless acts of one or more persons involved. In other cases, the damage to local wildlife was the failure of those who used the pesticide without the consideration of the effects it might have. The way the piece is written evokes a certain response from the reader and her approach has resulted in a wider understanding of the simple fact that these are chemicals, poisons, we are using when spraying pesticides. More importantly, the population may understand the more careful approach and control in every step of the way these poisons must travel, from research to laboratory to government approval to being used in the field.
As a human, we possess certain rights that protect us in society, however the animals we raise for food live under a much more complicated system that constantly changes. Americans have recently begun to protest animal treatment, especially in the meat industry. Many animal rights groups claim that animal farming is an inhuman practice that violates the rights of all living creatures. Farmers believe that animal right shouldn't change as any changes could cost them millions in new technology to safely care for the animals. The American farming industry poses several moral issues about animal rights which possess no easy solution, however new alternatives appear to have answers for this growing dilemma.
It was a beautiful October afternoon as I climbed to the top of my tree stand. The sun was shining, and a slight breeze was blowing from the northwest. I knew that the deer frequented the area around my stand since my step-dad had shot a nice doe two days earlier from the same stand, and signs of deer were everywhere in the area. I had been sitting for close to two hours when I decided to stand up and stretch my legs as well as smoke a cigarette.
... individuals may understand and spread the word of the horrific conditions the animals are forced to be a part of on factory farms.
Instead of using pesticides in farming a better alternative would be biological control. This is when a natural predator is released into the crop growing area as a result the number of pests can be reduced.
Animals have always played an important role in agriculture. Much concern for animal welfare is based on the belief that animals have the ability to feel and perceive what is happening to them. This is why it is considered that attention should be paid to their well-being. While the killing of animals for food does not n...