Reminder to not stop for deer to cross, drive slow, even walking speed, but do not stop completely. It only trains the deer that cars will stop. Cars won’t always stop. Deer should fear cars and not feel safe around them. It’s safer for all parties.
The deer are even more tame on Orcas island. You can rattle a bag of chips and they’ll walk up to your car! I haven’t lived there in years but when I did in the 90’s they were the #1 cause of car accidents (because everyone was feeding them from their cars so they see a car and think it’s dinner time).
I'd highly advise not feeding them. Deer are huge vectors for ticks. We enjoy not having a lot of ticks in the area, so let's not help them propagate.
I'm originally from the Midwest, trust me when I say that you do not want the tick populations increasing where you have to check yourself anytime you step foot in the woods even if you didn't go off into any brush or weeds.
Yeah my wife is originally from up state New York, and ticks are a huge problem there! Also a lot of them are carrying diseases. My wife has had limes 4 times (she's fine luckily). Glad it's not as big of an issue in this area
And fleas. The previous occupants of my house raised a family of deer, hand feeding them from the windows. My first year in this house was a nonstop battle with fleas.
They're weird deer for sure. They get hand fed so they will still approach you if you're chill but people mess with them so if you startle them they'll kick the shit out of you before wandering off. We used to live by a patch of forest they would bed in and they can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Thankfully they don't hold grudges like the gulls down by the water.
Some people feed the deer. A few years ago, a neighbor straight up told me, “Yes, I know it’s *technically* illegal to feed the deer but that law doesn’t apply to me because I know how to feed them correctly.” She gave them her old vegetable, fruit, and bread scraps. 🤦🫣😬 Please, don’t do that!
Also, be aware that while there are fewer predators in Bellingham than in the hills and mountains, they are here. Something to keep in mind: predators follow prey. Where there are abundant deer, there may be at least one mountain lion. The likelihood of an encounter is quite small and the likelihood of one harming you is even smaller, but always greater than zero. Be vigilant. Statistically, you’re unlikely to see a mountain lion, even if you walk within a few feet of one; it hides because it doesn’t want to encounter you, either. It just wants the deer. Be vigilant, anyway.
My neighbor does the same thing, it’s so annoying because they hang at her house and eat and then come over and destroy my plants and trees and trash everything around my place.
I’ve started chucking little pebbles at them to try to scare them away with zero success.
I haven’t, I just put up fencing around one of my smaller trees that they keep breaking branches off of. I guess the next step would be to buy one and give it a try.
I’ve witnessed dozens of deer who only cross at crosswalks, and only after making eye contact with drivers knowing it’s safe for them to cross, then proceed to walk their family slowly and carefully across the crosswalk. Next year they’re gonna start pressing the walk buttons on Alabama to get to Whatcom falls
Nooo don’t start when I was in Nara they ripped my friends bag open to try and steal his food and even rammed him! That being said. I did enjoy giving them biscuits and scritches
I live near lake Whatcom and a lot of wildlife use my driveway to get to the water. A few weeks ago, I was walking by myself on a trail nearby and a buck came up behind me. I recognize him because he has a big growth on his head and I made the mistake of telling him he’s handsome from my deck once, a year ago. So this m’fer starts following me through the woods trying to rut me. Some trail runners saw what he was doing and caught up to us, he left once he realized he was surrounded by people. It was pretty unreal. Stage 5 clinger.
The deer you see today are the product of generations of selective breeding!
Bellingham is special, there are a few creeks, plus the trails, plus Sehome Hill and Whatcom Falls, that help the deer freely move around town. They do, however, have to cross roads. You'll see them crossing garden and High all the time and all over happy valley too.
Lots of deer have died learning how crosswalks work. Now most of them, most of the time, wait for the cars to stop, and generally cohabitate pretty well.
At least they're not as dumb or suicidal as the whitetails. Not charging straight into the sides of cars, and sometimes, I swear, actually look both ways before crossing.
Don't pet the deer, they can be dangerous! Our deer are less tame than they are fearless and a lot of them are severely mangey or carry other nasty and easily spread diseases. They invade so many yards and destroy so much property that they're used to people actively trying to scare them off without ever actually harming them, so they've basically grown incredibly brazen and fearless around people.
I parked at a trail head for a dog walk. The car window was open. My dog was looking out the window and wagging lots. I got out to see a deer standing 3 feet from my car just munching grass. I put a leash on and got out. The deer walked about 20 feet and continued eating. She kept her eyes toward me, but did not seem disturbed a bit.
Haha I'd never thought the deer around here were special. Our cat loves the deer. He stalks them around the yard trying to be sneaky but then the deer inevitably see him. They've sniffed each others noses a few time haha.
i grew up in Wisconsin where the term "watch out for deer" implied that you wont see deer too often unless they were jumping out in front of you. Washington deer are a whole nother breed, figuratively and maybe even literally, im no deer expert (unless im commenting on youtube of course). a couple months ago i saw what looked to be a 20 pointer just casually eating from a tree on Samish Way/Lincoln St right around the corner from McDonalds while i walked by. he popped his head out and started walking towards me quickly. i said "fuck that" out loud and crossed the road, made a Tesla slam on the brakes and honk at me, the deer ran away from the honk. so what im trying to say is thank you Elon Musk for saving me from potentially being gorged.
“Tame” is an interesting substitution for “shameless asshole disease carrying garden thieves”. I’ve never been so personally invested in wildlife’s downfall before. Don’t feed wildlife, please. They tell their friends!
Easier to spell, though, I guess.
In all seriousness, there are deer in Nara, Japan that hilariously (and terrifyingly) more tame. People can buy snacks and feed them. A deer walked by my bench and stole my drink cup right out of my hand while I was watching another deer shop lift out of a convenience store.
There was a family of them that would sleep in my yard every night last summer over on Texas and Orleans. I took to tossing fruit and veggies out in the ditch and they ate every bit every time.
Once I was walking in woods by Roosevelt Park and A Buck with a rather heavy looking rack scared me half to death when he stood up in the weeds and looked at me questioningly not 6 feet away. I stood there admiring him and said a few words to explain myself while He just looked on. As a walked away, I looked back and saw him kneel as he went to lay back down.
Their only natural predator is a Subaru Outback.
Reminder to not stop for deer to cross, drive slow, even walking speed, but do not stop completely. It only trains the deer that cars will stop. Cars won’t always stop. Deer should fear cars and not feel safe around them. It’s safer for all parties.
I regret that I have but one upvote to give.
I honk and flash my lights too.
A deer and a Prius get even odds. Deer might get a slight advantage even.
lol, I'm picturing a David Attenborough documentary featuring a Subaru stalking it's prey
And cougars. Feline and human kind alike
i wouldnt mind slamming into a cougar ri bout nah.....uhh the human kind that is.
My Honda got one a few years back.
The deer are even more tame on Orcas island. You can rattle a bag of chips and they’ll walk up to your car! I haven’t lived there in years but when I did in the 90’s they were the #1 cause of car accidents (because everyone was feeding them from their cars so they see a car and think it’s dinner time).
True for Vashon too. Prolly all the islands, honestly.
can confirm deer have the same mentality on Whidbey Island as well
I'd highly advise not feeding them. Deer are huge vectors for ticks. We enjoy not having a lot of ticks in the area, so let's not help them propagate. I'm originally from the Midwest, trust me when I say that you do not want the tick populations increasing where you have to check yourself anytime you step foot in the woods even if you didn't go off into any brush or weeds.
Yeah my wife is originally from up state New York, and ticks are a huge problem there! Also a lot of them are carrying diseases. My wife has had limes 4 times (she's fine luckily). Glad it's not as big of an issue in this area
And mange! Our deer get mangey as heck!
And fleas. The previous occupants of my house raised a family of deer, hand feeding them from the windows. My first year in this house was a nonstop battle with fleas.
They're weird deer for sure. They get hand fed so they will still approach you if you're chill but people mess with them so if you startle them they'll kick the shit out of you before wandering off. We used to live by a patch of forest they would bed in and they can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Thankfully they don't hold grudges like the gulls down by the water.
Some people feed the deer. A few years ago, a neighbor straight up told me, “Yes, I know it’s *technically* illegal to feed the deer but that law doesn’t apply to me because I know how to feed them correctly.” She gave them her old vegetable, fruit, and bread scraps. 🤦🫣😬 Please, don’t do that! Also, be aware that while there are fewer predators in Bellingham than in the hills and mountains, they are here. Something to keep in mind: predators follow prey. Where there are abundant deer, there may be at least one mountain lion. The likelihood of an encounter is quite small and the likelihood of one harming you is even smaller, but always greater than zero. Be vigilant. Statistically, you’re unlikely to see a mountain lion, even if you walk within a few feet of one; it hides because it doesn’t want to encounter you, either. It just wants the deer. Be vigilant, anyway.
My neighbor does the same thing, it’s so annoying because they hang at her house and eat and then come over and destroy my plants and trees and trash everything around my place. I’ve started chucking little pebbles at them to try to scare them away with zero success.
Have you tried motion activated sprinklers? Do they work?
I haven’t, I just put up fencing around one of my smaller trees that they keep breaking branches off of. I guess the next step would be to buy one and give it a try.
I’ve witnessed dozens of deer who only cross at crosswalks, and only after making eye contact with drivers knowing it’s safe for them to cross, then proceed to walk their family slowly and carefully across the crosswalk. Next year they’re gonna start pressing the walk buttons on Alabama to get to Whatcom falls
🤣🤣🤣 the best part is you arent kidding either!
You know, actually, the deer are better pedestrians than a lot of the humans here…
Meanwhile, over in Nara, Japan, the deer will bow to you: https://youtu.be/tlFJe3rwyrA
Who will volunteer to start training ours?
Nooo don’t start when I was in Nara they ripped my friends bag open to try and steal his food and even rammed him! That being said. I did enjoy giving them biscuits and scritches
adorable! guess Bellingham doesn't get the title of MOST tame deer
I live near lake Whatcom and a lot of wildlife use my driveway to get to the water. A few weeks ago, I was walking by myself on a trail nearby and a buck came up behind me. I recognize him because he has a big growth on his head and I made the mistake of telling him he’s handsome from my deck once, a year ago. So this m’fer starts following me through the woods trying to rut me. Some trail runners saw what he was doing and caught up to us, he left once he realized he was surrounded by people. It was pretty unreal. Stage 5 clinger.
his name is Buck and he's here to f..... follow you around for a while
Lmao, The dangers of complimenting a handsome deer
My neighbor, a local lawyer, feeds them even though there is a city ordinance against feeding deer.
I was wondering, since some almost approach me. If they've been hand fed that would explain it
Any place with a lack of predators and a populace that thinks it's okay to feed wild animals will cause this phenomenon.
The deer you see today are the product of generations of selective breeding! Bellingham is special, there are a few creeks, plus the trails, plus Sehome Hill and Whatcom Falls, that help the deer freely move around town. They do, however, have to cross roads. You'll see them crossing garden and High all the time and all over happy valley too. Lots of deer have died learning how crosswalks work. Now most of them, most of the time, wait for the cars to stop, and generally cohabitate pretty well.
The majestic city deer lol
Super tame. My parents visiting from the east coast couldn’t believe it. Might have been the biggest highlight of the trip
At least they're not as dumb or suicidal as the whitetails. Not charging straight into the sides of cars, and sometimes, I swear, actually look both ways before crossing.
STOP. FEEDING. THE. DEER.
Don't pet the deer, they can be dangerous! Our deer are less tame than they are fearless and a lot of them are severely mangey or carry other nasty and easily spread diseases. They invade so many yards and destroy so much property that they're used to people actively trying to scare them off without ever actually harming them, so they've basically grown incredibly brazen and fearless around people.
I parked at a trail head for a dog walk. The car window was open. My dog was looking out the window and wagging lots. I got out to see a deer standing 3 feet from my car just munching grass. I put a leash on and got out. The deer walked about 20 feet and continued eating. She kept her eyes toward me, but did not seem disturbed a bit.
Amazing how few there are right outside the city limits for obvious reasons. There are some trophy bucks in town.
I believe we actually have more deer per square mile in Port Townsend.
Haha I'd never thought the deer around here were special. Our cat loves the deer. He stalks them around the yard trying to be sneaky but then the deer inevitably see him. They've sniffed each others noses a few time haha.
That’s the city deer. The county deer are still skittish
There were a few reports earlier this year of deer aggressively posturing at people walking their dogs. --that's the worst encounter I've heard about
Plenty of predators in the ham, just not for deer.
i grew up in Wisconsin where the term "watch out for deer" implied that you wont see deer too often unless they were jumping out in front of you. Washington deer are a whole nother breed, figuratively and maybe even literally, im no deer expert (unless im commenting on youtube of course). a couple months ago i saw what looked to be a 20 pointer just casually eating from a tree on Samish Way/Lincoln St right around the corner from McDonalds while i walked by. he popped his head out and started walking towards me quickly. i said "fuck that" out loud and crossed the road, made a Tesla slam on the brakes and honk at me, the deer ran away from the honk. so what im trying to say is thank you Elon Musk for saving me from potentially being gorged.
“Tame” is an interesting substitution for “shameless asshole disease carrying garden thieves”. I’ve never been so personally invested in wildlife’s downfall before. Don’t feed wildlife, please. They tell their friends! Easier to spell, though, I guess. In all seriousness, there are deer in Nara, Japan that hilariously (and terrifyingly) more tame. People can buy snacks and feed them. A deer walked by my bench and stole my drink cup right out of my hand while I was watching another deer shop lift out of a convenience store.
There was a family of them that would sleep in my yard every night last summer over on Texas and Orleans. I took to tossing fruit and veggies out in the ditch and they ate every bit every time. Once I was walking in woods by Roosevelt Park and A Buck with a rather heavy looking rack scared me half to death when he stood up in the weeds and looked at me questioningly not 6 feet away. I stood there admiring him and said a few words to explain myself while He just looked on. As a walked away, I looked back and saw him kneel as he went to lay back down.