Prairie City Mayor says not to feed the town deer
By Logan Bagett on Thursday, February 9th, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
PRAIRIE CITY – Prairie City Mayor Scott Officer was on KJDY’s Coffee Time recently and explained that even though folks probably have the best of intentions, it’s not a good idea to feed the town deer. He said he’s gotten two letters from state wildlife officials:
“One from [ODFW District Wildlife Biologist] Ryan Torland and one from the State Wildlife Veterinarian on the myriad of reasons why feeding grain and these solids to deer is not good. Their bodies are designed to eat this dry grass that’s poking out through. The younger ones, especially, are prone to dysentery if they’re eating too high of protein food, which oftentimes kills them.”
Scott mentioned his letter from the State Wildlife Veterinarian explains that feeding the deer also disrupts their normal migration. Find copies of the letters below: *TIP: Click the button with the arrow surrounding a diamond to properly rotate the document*
(Letter from ODFW District Wildlife Biologist Ryan Torland)
(Letter from ODFW State Wildlife Veterinarian Colin M. Gillin)
