The Call of the Wild in West Orange

Despite the many protests against, the deer kill in South Mountain Reservation continues. Not only does it continue, it has been expanded to include other areas of Essex County, New Jersey.

I don't believe most of the statements about why the kill is necessary, but now I have even more reason to doubt their authenticity.

One argument that continues to be put forth is that the deer kill is necessary since the deer have no natural predator and will just die of starvation if not slaughtered outright.

Well, that has always been quite incredible to my comprehension. The deer produce more, not less, if they are killed en masse and the deer produce less, not more, if the food supply diminishes.

And, this morning, I saw something that challenges the "no natural predator" theory in the most dramatic way.

At 5 a.m. this morning, my husband and I were awakened by bellowing behind our townhouse. We flashed some lights and saw a downed large buck with 2 coyotes or wolves eating him alive. Our light and movement frightened them off into the snow filled woods.

The buck was badly wounded but still alive. We tried to call animal emergency and they said we should call the police. The West Orange police did come and finished off the buck and later the town came to haul the carcass away, leaving behind a huge patch of snow that looked like a multiple murder crime scene.


Thinking this would be an important piece of information for residents, I sent out emails and posted on the community board for this townhouse complex. It was noted in the responses that there are less deer in the woods here than have been here in the past and less wild turkeys as well. This is all anecdotal, but it certainly supports the theory that natural predators are alive and well in this area of suburban New Jersey.


This has been a rather horrific way to begin the day, and Christmas eve day to boot, but maybe there are a number of lessons to be learned with the death of this poor buck. One of them should certainly be that if culling of the herd is deemed essential, a non lethal method is not only preferable to the deer kill but to the natural kill as well.