CAPE COUNTY HAS STEADY DEER POPULATION

While the national white-tailed deer population is reported as the highest ever, Cape Girardeau County has maintained a steady deer population.

Jeff Beringer, a wildlife biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said an estimated 6,700 deer live in Unit 44 which includes most of Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties. That amount is about a quarter of what that area can support.

"We purposely keep the population low," said Beringer, who is a member of the team that sets the quota of deer permits issued to hunters each year. "If the number were to double what it is now you would have a real increase in deer/vehicle accidents and farming would become more difficult because of crop damage."

Beringer said the quota is determined largely by resident response to a survey the conservation department sends out every year. If a majority of the respondents say there are too many deer then the conservation department will increase the quota.

"We've kind of based the quota on the perceptions of the hunters, landowners and other people in the area," Beringer said.

Deer permits are only issued on non-antlered deer -- females and the very young. The number of bucks taken each year is not regulated. Beringer said once bucks have mated, hunters could not kill enough of them to hurt the population.

Last year, 3,000 permits were issued in Unit 44.

Beringer said May and June are two of the worst months for automobile accidents involving deer. That is the time when fawns born a year ago are old enough to strike out on their own. They wander into unfamiliar territory and sometimes stumble into traffic.

"This is when you find deer wandering into malls or crashing through bank windows," Beringer said. The number of accidents involving deer will tend to slow down during midsummer then pick back up during breeding season in October and November.

The state is experiencing a growth in its deer population. Some areas, like St. Louis County, are having a real problem with large groups of deer in populated areas.

Deer will wander into suburban areas where hunting is prohibited. Their numbers will increase until a small geographic area supports a population that far exceeds its ability.

"Cape Girardeau certainly has the potential for an urban deer problem," Beringer said. "They can happen in fairly small communities as well."

Beringer said there were 7,560 incidents in Missouri in 1995 where a deer was killed by a vehicle. Forty of those accidents were in Cape Girardeau County.

Highway patrol Lt. Ron Beck said 43 people were killed between 1991 and 1995 in 39 accidents involving animals. Twenty-two of those accidents involved deer.

Beck said half of those accidents took place when a car hit a deer. The rest occurred when motorists hit something else trying to avoid a deer.

"Motorists will sometimes swerve to avoid a deer," he said. "We had as many fatal crashes involving motorists trying to avoid deer."

Liz Pensoneau, public information officer for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said the number of accidents involving deer has been on the rise in Illinois since 1991. In 1995, there were 17,573 accidents reported that involved a deer. That is up from 14,012 in 1991.