The Suburban Deer

A Coping Kit for the Massachusetts Homeowner

New homeowners are often delighted when they first catch sight of deer grazing in their yard. It's usually not long, however, before the homeowner discovers that these beautiful animals can cause significant damage to expensive plantings. Moreover, deer in the yard most likely mean deer ticks in the yard as well, leading to concerns about Lyme Disease.

As the number of hunters in Massachusetts has decreased, the size of the white-tailed deer herd in the state has grown. The "wood-edge" ecosystem common in suburbia is a nearly perfect habitat for the animals. As a result, Massachusetts suburbanites are experiencing more frequently both the joys and frustrations of sharing their acreage with deer.

This website gathers together materials to help the Massachusetts suburbanite cope with some of the challenges posed by living alongside the white-tailed deer and understand some of the issues involved in herd population management.

Please note that the Suburban Deer does not endorse any of the products or warrant the accuracy of information in any of the documents referred to on this site.

On each page of this website, the first resources listed within each topic link to more comprehensive or general resources on that subject. These are followed by links to resources that explore specific aspects of the topic.

Plants that Stand a Chance

Deer Deterrents

Hazards to Humans

Herd Population Management

The links below are to general resources or compilations that encompass two or more of the topics found on other pages of The Suburban Deer website.

Web Resources

Preventing Deer Damage
An overview of deer management strategies and a list of plants and their susceptibility to deer browsing. By C. E. Swift and M. K. Gross, Horticultural Agents. From the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. References.

Wildlife Habitats: Deer Protection and Control
A thoughtful, measured overview of the problems caused by deer, and some solutions. By H. Kibbe Turner, a wildlife-friendly landscape designer in Maryland. References.

Wildlife Management - Hoofed Mammals
Links compiled by David M. Brandenburg, a wildlife officer employed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Many of these resources are PDF documents, and require Adobe Reader for viewing. Several of the more relevant documents cited on Mr. Brandenburg's page are individually listed on The Suburban Deer pages.

Print and video resources

Managing White-Tailed Deer in Suburban Environments: A Technical Guide
This website provides a summary and table of contents of this publication from the Wildlife Society's Wildlife Damage Management Working Group. The Society offers several additional relevant publications, including videos, for sale via its online catalog .

Deer Proofing Your Yard and Garden
A great introduction to deer, the problems they can cause, and various approaches to mitigating these problems. By Rhonda Massingham Hart (North Adams, MA: Storey Books, 1997).

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