Severed deer heads Killarney

Graces7

http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/severed-deer-heads-discovered-in-killarney/ Appalling; there have been previous concerns about how the cull is being handled. I came back from Killarney to Molls Gap earlier before seeing this and wondered why there were so many Ranger vehicles on the road. MHR and family have said publically they want all the deel out of the county. Deer are not dangerous; we are.

lazybones32

I'd prefer if hunting licenses were sold, rather than have these guys go out with the rifles and powerful spotlights (to blind the deer). It'd be a way to bring more moolah to the local economy and keep deer numbers in check. Seeing as the deer have no natural predators, their numbers have rocketed and they destroy young vegetation/trees, which should be a concern for Killarney National Park, seeing as Ireland's oldest native woodland is already under threat from the rhodo's.
The deer - though lovely to look at - are considered to be a pest by many. I don't disagree.

Graces7

lazybones32 wrote: »

I'd prefer if hunting licenses were sold, rather than have these guys go out with the rifles and powerful spotlights (to blind the deer). It'd be a way to bring more moolah to the local economy and keep deer numbers in check. Seeing as the deer have no natural predators, their numbers have rocketed and they destroy young vegetation/trees, which should be a concern for Killarney National Park, seeing as Ireland's oldest native woodland is already under threat from the rhodo's.
The deer - though lovely to look at - are considered to be a pest by many. I don't disagree.

There has in fact never been an audit of deer and thus prove your statement that " numbers have rocketed" please. The responsible way to cull is to take out the old deer, and the "spare" males. Not the breeding females and never the young which will destroy the integrity of the herd. This came out today, and well done to the "whistle blower" in this case. Also read the Wild Deer Association material. http://www.thejournal.ie/deer-culling-killarney-national-park-2582625-Feb2016/ I had great respect for the NP staff but have it no longer.

whisky_galore

Graces7 wrote: »

MHR and family have said publically they want all the deel out of the county. Deer are not dangerous; we are.

How about a cull of the Healy-Raes?

hanamandiol

Graces7 wrote: »

There has in fact never been an audit of deer and thus prove your statement that " numbers have rocketed" please. The responsible way to cull is to take out the old deer, and the "spare" males. Not the breeding females and never the young which will destroy the integrity of the herd. This came out today, and well done to the "whistle blower" in this case. Also read the Wild Deer Association material. http://www.thejournal.ie/deer-culling-killarney-national-park-2582625-Feb2016/ I had great respect for the NP staff but have it no longer.

The numbers of deer must have increased dramatically.I drive for a living and never before have i seen the volume of deer wandering roads at night - and i mean every night.They are to be seen between Macroom and Killarney but particularly around Glenflesk/Minish.Hit one just before Christmas doing 600e damage to my truck.In my humble opinion all the f******* should be shot.

newman10

Graces7 wrote: »

http://www.radiokerry.ie/news/severed-deer-heads-discovered-in-killarney/ Appalling; there have been previous concerns about how the cull is being handled. I came back from Killarney to Molls Gap earlier before seeing this and wondered why there were so many Ranger vehicles on the road. MHR and family have said publically they want all the deel out of the county. Deer are not dangerous; we are.

Had €4,000 worth of damage done to my car by a very friendly stag. Driving for over 30years without an accident or Insurance Claim.
Act of God I was told, but someone has to be responsible for the Deer
County Coronar would also disagree with you about Deer not being dangerous

Lia_lia

As much as love the deer I have to say I know at least 4 people who have crashed into deer. Three of them wrote off their cars. One of them wrote off TWO cars from deer in the past couple of years. She's a breakfast chef so drives to work very early. No injuries thankfully. Insurance won't pay anything. Still don't agree with the culling of young deer.

Know a fellow who was killed, and passenger seriously injured, when he hit a tree to avoid a deer. I had a lot of damage to a car after hitting one.

On the other hand, wouldn't cull deer for traffic reasons, or at least not in the National Park. They may be culled for breeding and overpopulation reasons though, and Id agree with that if it's overseen properly.

lazybones32

Graces7 wrote: »

There has in fact never been an audit of deer and thus prove your statement that " numbers have rocketed" please. The responsible way to cull is to take out the old deer, and the "spare" males. Not the breeding females and never the young which will destroy the integrity of the herd. This came out today, and well done to the "whistle blower" in this case. Also read the Wild Deer Association material. http://www.thejournal.ie/deer-culling-killarney-national-park-2582625-Feb2016/ I had great respect for the NP staff but have it no longer.

There are only estimates of the number of red deer but look at the information and you'll see whether the deer numbers are rising: Deer reproduce high above their mortality-rate; they have no predators in the wild; their areas of distribution have increased seven-fold since 1978 (this is not one herd just moving around) with the increase in forestry plantations and in the words of the Govt. "the culling requirements...fall far short of the requirement" and that under current conditions all species are likely to increase in distribution and population (Deer Management Ireland, 2015). I could give you a nice bit of anecdotal information too: learned from hunters, NPWS staff, farmers and my own experience.

Targeting females is the best strategy instead of culling all the older deer who cannot reproduce. Given sika and fallow's high reproduction rate, culling some females is the only real option. (Reds are protected)


I don't know why their heads were cut off: maybe for taxidermy?

lazybones32

newman10 wrote: »

... someone has to be responsible for the Deer

If you shoot one without a license, the Govt. will prosecute you but if you crash into one it's between yourself and the deer. Killarney Gardai have said that there are many more deer-related accidents than are reported; they admit there's no point in reporting it as nothing can be done.
You are entitled to kill a deer to end its suffering and you don't have to report it to anyone. They don't exactly give guidelines on how to do it though...

whisky_galore

lazybones32 wrote: »

I don't know why their heads were cut off: maybe for taxidermy?

Cut off to drain the blood so the meat doesn't go bad. They appear to be dumped.