History, Natural History & the Arts
As temperatures drop and snow deepens, you may notice a group of white-tailed deer digging around in an open field or wandering through your yard in search of food. While you may be tempted to feed the deer, they are well adapted to our winter conditions. It is also illegal to feed deer, and it may do more harm than good.
White-tailed deer go through both physical and behavioral changes that improve their survival odds during winter. [Read more…] about How White-Tailed Deer Cope With Winter
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Division of Law Enforcement enforces the 71 chapters of New York State’s Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), protecting fish and wildlife and preserving environmental quality across New York.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs). [Read more…] about Deer Poachers Keep Environmental Conservation Police Busy
During the late summer and early fall, an outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) led to the death of a significant number of whitetail deer in parts of New York State.
On Nov. 2, Environmental Conservation Officer Palmateer received information from a Catskill, Greene County, NY family about a youth hunter who shot a buck with bow and arrow a buck that had deformities on its hooves. The family reported that it looked like the hooves were starting to detach from the deer. [Read more…] about First Confirmed EHD Survivor Reported By DEC
By passing up shots on yearling bucks (1.5 years old), hunters improve their odds of seeing older-age, larger bucks in the years to come.
Though antlers can be helpful to distinguish young bucks, sometimes antlers can be misleading. Body characteristics are also very important. [Read more…] about How Old Is That Deer?
According to a press release issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, on September 24th, Environmental Conservation Officer Godson received a report of two whitetail deer with locked antlers on Gillette Road in the town of Barre, Orleans County. [Read more…] about Whitetail Bucks With Locked Antlers Rescued
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in whitetail deer Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Nassau, Oswego, Suffolk, and Ulster counties.
DEC is also tracking suspected cases in Albany, Jefferson, Oneida, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties plus new reports of dead deer to track the spread and estimate the number of deer succumbing to this disease. To date, DEC has received reports of approximately 700 dead deer. [Read more…] about Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Has Spread Widely in NYS
I have often been stopped in my tracks by the sight of a white-tailed doe standing in the lush summer grass. Depending on the sun’s slant, the animal’s coat is a rich shade of rusty brown or burnt orange. More delightful still is the sight of a fawn, reddish brown with scattered white dots. Deer are not the only creatures that start out spotted, but their speckled young may be among the prettiest that do. [Read more…] about Whitetail Fawns And Their Adorable Spots
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed that two whitetail deer in the town of Esopus, Ulster County, died after contracting Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD). DEC is currently following up on reports of several other dead deer in Dutchess, Ulster, and Westchester counties. [Read more…] about Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease Confirmed in Ulster County Deer
If you have been fortunate to spot a white-tailed buck in the past few weeks, you may have noticed small, fuzzy antlers forming. Adult male deer shed and regrow their antlers each year. The soft material that now covers the forming antlers is known as “velvet.” [Read more…] about Whitetail Deer Antler Development Begins
According to a press release issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), a hunter who previously had his license to hunt revoked for poaching recently received jail time for illegally taking a deer in Saratoga County.
Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Shaw reported that in January 2021, they received an anonymous tip regarding large deer antlers brought into a local taxidermist in November 2020 by a revoked hunter using another hunter’s tag. [Read more…] about Repeat Saratoga County Poacher Gets Jail Time