You're spot on. But for folks living there, the %$#@% elk eat their expensive landscaping (or the beavers eat their aspens).
The guy across the street from us put down sod(!) last fall and planted several baby Ponderosas (which are dying because he doesn't water them). While we were there over the holidays, he spent time each day chasing the deer and/or elk off the lawn. I guess he doesn't have anything better to do, but, sheesh, what an attitude. HPH
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Estes Beaver colony in danger.
Started by
RobertP
, Sep 30 2011 08:36 PM
17 replies to this topic
#16
DrCloud
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 02:04 PM
#17
HighPlainsMedic
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 03:21 PM
We used to see some folks feeding the deer from sacks of grain. little piles, they didn't understand that it was just enough to keep them around and not forage for their natural food. Eventually the small herd got so big they couldn't afford to feed them, and the herd probably died of starvation. Dad would chase them off his bushes with a broom..
People move to the mountains for a number of reasons, Some for the sights and the seclusion and some for the wildlife, some for both. seeing that number of Elk and Deer in the Estes Vally used to be rare. I have my own reasons why and they stem back to 1975.. but that is history and it doesn't change the here and now. Yearly there a number of killed on the roads, there are call lists to "harvest" the road kill. To have so many in the Valley is un natural. Hence the wasting disease. Natures way to thin the herd.
The further the park is infringed upon the more interaction between man and wildlife. And in such interaction there will be winners and losers.. There simply isn't enough real estate for both species at the same time. Given human nature and the differences in us as human beings, there is no one nor no easy solution.
People move to the mountains for a number of reasons, Some for the sights and the seclusion and some for the wildlife, some for both. seeing that number of Elk and Deer in the Estes Vally used to be rare. I have my own reasons why and they stem back to 1975.. but that is history and it doesn't change the here and now. Yearly there a number of killed on the roads, there are call lists to "harvest" the road kill. To have so many in the Valley is un natural. Hence the wasting disease. Natures way to thin the herd.
The further the park is infringed upon the more interaction between man and wildlife. And in such interaction there will be winners and losers.. There simply isn't enough real estate for both species at the same time. Given human nature and the differences in us as human beings, there is no one nor no easy solution.
#18
DrCloud
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 05:46 PM
Yep. The real problem, of course, is that now there are no real predators for elk and deer except for cars and the occasional lion. And the, um, ungulate reproductive urges haven't adjusted to this new reality.
So there are too many of 'em -- although, I gotta say: IT'S VERY VERY COOL TO HAVE A HERD OF ELK IN YOUR FRONT YARD, SHRUBS BE DAMNED!! Besides, it keeps the native grasses trimmed and adds fertilizer. If you're stupid enough to plant bluegrass, well, you reap what you sow.
It's too soon to tell, but perhaps the new sharpshooter program in the Park will help with the overpopulation of elk. The takes there (the non-diseased ones) go to homeless shelters and the like.
And, to return to topic, some of these same issues pertain to the beavers, no matter how cute they are. HPH
So there are too many of 'em -- although, I gotta say: IT'S VERY VERY COOL TO HAVE A HERD OF ELK IN YOUR FRONT YARD, SHRUBS BE DAMNED!! Besides, it keeps the native grasses trimmed and adds fertilizer. If you're stupid enough to plant bluegrass, well, you reap what you sow.
It's too soon to tell, but perhaps the new sharpshooter program in the Park will help with the overpopulation of elk. The takes there (the non-diseased ones) go to homeless shelters and the like.
And, to return to topic, some of these same issues pertain to the beavers, no matter how cute they are. HPH
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