Deer encroaching on my apartment

rediguana

I live in Sandyford and deer are always coming into my apartment block, loads of them, ones with antlers, baby ones, plain ones. I never saw a deer in the wild until I moved here a few weeks ago.

Anyway, can I expect to see more / less of them as Spring / Summer progresses. Can I feed them? I don't want to blunt their survival skills, but who could resist? And what do they eat anyway - saplings? Turnips?

Vinnie K

How cool is that!! Im living in Dundrum and have 3 wild ducks and hearing about 3/4 days a week in the water feature outside the balcony, but your deers win hands down.

rediguana

Vinnie K wrote: »

How cool is that!! Im living in Dundrum and have 3 wild ducks and hearing about 3/4 days a week in the water feature outside the balcony, but your deers win hands down.

There are rabbits too, but the telegenic ungulates are hogging the limelight.

Ducks are great too. When I finally give up Flat-Land, ducks are on my list of animals to get for my big, sprawling ranch at the top of Killiney Hill.

Vinnie K

rediguana wrote: »

There are rabbits too, but the telegenic ungulates are hogging the limelight.

Ducks are great too. When I finally give up Flat-Land, ducks are on my list of animals to get for my big, sprawling ranch at the top of Killiney Hill.

When you get this ranch, pencil me in for a visit.lol. any chance of a few pics of the deer??

peasant

I wouldn't feed the deer if i were you ...you may never get rid of them again.

rediguana

I'll leave the camera beside my balcony (I'm just on the first floor) and snap those hoofy dreamboats just as soon as I see them again, and then I'll show them to Boards.

I'm not worried about them hanging around long term, they really raise the tone of the place. Also, they're so skittish that I know they'll flee back to the magic forest from whence they came, as soon as the block of apartments fills up (it's very new, and only two out of thirty apartments are occupied so far).

MsFifers

That sounds amazing! How lucky are you!!

Maybe you should edit your post to hide your location though! There are lots of hunters on this forum now "debating" in the Irish Times Poll thread! You might find a stag hunt galloping past your window one morning!

NoNameRanger

Try putting a mineral/ salt lick block(available from animal feed suppliers) on top of a fence post or a tree, it needs to be above the height a deer can stand on its back legs. What you want is for the rain to gradually disolve the block and for the salt to run down along the wood, the deer will then lick it off, they absolutely love this, especially in the spring. They also love sugar beet, turnips, potatoes, bread, but it is alot more labor intensive feeding them this way. The block will keep them comming all year. Lucky you!!
Don't worry about the hunters, they won't bother them at the back of an apartment block, they're not really bad people.:) Hunters are always on the forum, they are also animal lovers.

Jimkel

Ha ha, Brilliant, Consider yourself lucky to be able to see such a thing in this day and age.

Hendrix89

NoNameRanger wrote: »

Hunters are always on the forum, they are also animal lovers.

Hmm.. I find that hard to believe from what I have read on the boards.. Never came across one hunter here that expressed any genuine respect for wild animals. Sure how could they anyway..

Sorry, not trying to take it off topic.

Nice to hear about deer living peacefully around your area. Your lucky to be experiencing this Beautiful animals.

DonJose

NoNameRanger wrote: »

Hunters are always on the forum, they are also animal lovers.

Hunters and animal lovers don't belong in the same sentence. Ask a hunter what they do with the hunting hounds once they become too old to hunt.

Saruman

I would imagine some hunters do have a respect for animals. The ones in the US and Canada that live off the land... the mountain men for instance probably do. Sending a pack of Dogs after an animal so you can walk up when its tired and shoot it is not hunting, its just being a lazy fecker.

stevoman

Hendrix89 wrote: »

Hmm.. I find that hard to believe from what I have read on the boards.. Never came across one hunter here that expressed any genuine respect for wild animals. Sure how could they anyway..

Im a hunter so i am and i absolutly love animals. i take great care of my pets (i have loads). Any game that i hunt i always eat and i am also big into conservation and i am also a member of the donkey sanctuary and make my donations every year and this year im heading down there to have a look around the sanctuary for myself. I also take in dogs that need to be re-homed.

Poeple here can Break down what i said all you like, but TBH none of you know me nor any of the other hunters on boards and exactly what some of you are saying about hunters is just completly steotypical. I know im an animal lover and anyone who knows me would be more than quick to agree with me on that subject.

Trojan911

rediguana wrote: »

I'll leave the camera beside my balcony.

Some pics would be good. Close ups if possible. Fab creatures. When I have enough money saved I'm buying a decent SLR camera & lens for snapping wildlife.

MsFifers

God - the hunter comment was just a joke!!! Please can people not start debating that in this thread as well?!!!

Good luck with the photos - I'm dying to see the upwardly mobile deer in their apartment living setting!

stevoman

MsFifers wrote: »

God - the hunter comment was just a joke!!! Please can people not start debating that in this thread as well?!!!

Could you please tell me why you think what i said is a joke please if you dont mind? TBH i don't see anything funny about it at all. i mean you dont know me so how can you make such a comment?

Saruman

I think she means HER comment Stevo... not yours

Whispered

Um stevo - I think what she meant was she had brought up hunters - in a joking way - and others took it up as a debate, I doubt anything was aimed at you.

stevoman

sorry aplolagy's everyone!!!

Whispered

thats ok - i'm sure your feeling defensive after the fox hunting thing!

stevoman

a wee bit alright! Im not a horseback hunter but i fell that the pro hunting lobby must stick together across the board.
eitherways thats neither here nor there i guess. its bad enough everyone is at loggerheads on one thread, i dont want to start it here either!!

Im afraid i might have already though, sorry again!

mike65

Pix of Deer or I dont belive you.

Mike.

MsFifers

Time for some peace & love vibes maannn!;)

Vegeta

MsFifers wrote: »

Time for some peace & love vibes maannn!;)

Exactly

As I don't know what Sandyford is like (could be vast mountainous forests for all I know) but if it is a residential area, for the animals safet,y would it be worth trying to deter them from the area in case they are hit by a car or something

Definitely get some pics though

Alun

Vegeta wrote: »

As I don't know what Sandyford is like (could be vast mountainous forests for all I know) but if it is a residential area, for the animals safet,y would it be worth trying to deter them from the area in case they are hit by a car or something

Definitely get some pics though

I'd be interested to know exactly where this is too ... Sandyford lies close to the base of the Dublin Mountains, with Three Rock Mountain to the south, so I assume this is the general area they're coming from. I'm not really au fait with all the new apartment complexes they're building around there, but if they're getting closer and closer to the foothills of the Dublin Mountains you're going to get more and more of this kind of thing happening.

golfgirl

Don't worry OP, I believe you as I have seen them too ! At our home in Carrickmines. We had a resident deer last summer who would come in and out of our garden. I have one or two great pics if only I could figure out how to load them up. I have a problem with all this tho, as beautiful an experience it is to stare into that deer's eyes, we never had deer until about 4 years ago. I think they are being displaced from their homes because of all the road building / new homes in the area. So, not only are people being shunted out of their homes to make way for all this development but think of all the wildlife that is mowed down. We called him/her bambi by the way.

golfgirl

Here goes. Enjoy people!

KBarry

They are very cute and all, but when they become unafraid of people deer can be a nuisance, as well as dangerous. I was bitten by a deer a couple of years ago. In the bollix. On my honeymoon.

John Griffin

golfgirl wrote: »

Don't worry OP, I believe you as I have seen them too ! At our home in Carrickmines. We had a resident deer last summer who would come in and out of our garden. I have one or two great pics if only I could figure out how to load them up. I have a problem with all this tho, as beautiful an experience it is to stare into that deer's eyes, we never had deer until about 4 years ago. I think they are being displaced from their homes because of all the road building / new homes in the area. So, not only are people being shunted out of their homes to make way for all this development but think of all the wildlife that is mowed down. We called him/her bambi by the way.

Deer numbers are increasing with every year in Ireland and especially in Wicklow, a conservative figure for the Wicklow population now stands at about 35,000. They are extending their range with every year and are moving right around the outskirts of Dublin city. They all originated from Powerscourt estate, when 6 of them were bought by Lord Powerscourt for his Deer Park, they are Sika deer and are native to Japan, but in wicklow they have hybridised with Red deer to such a extent that the Wicklow animals are now all known are hybrids. Lovely to look at but they cause alot of damage for alot of people too.
Good suggestion from No Name Ranger with the salt licks. I am also a Ranger and a wildlife photographer, deer are one of my favourite subjects. Google me if you want to see my pics on my website.
I also see there were some references to hunting in this thread and how could a person be an animal lover and a hunter. I am. I am a professional conservationist, animal lover, hunting is very much a part of conservation and i do shoot animals. Alot of armchair conservationists could do with some practical experience, a little more science and less sensationalism in my view. I work with the most dedicated animal lovers and conservationists in the country, about 30% are also hunters and the rest support and understand the need for it. People say they can't understand hunting, well my reply is, learn all you can about it and listen to the people that hunt. I am happy to explain the logic to people but don't insult me.:D Had a look at that hunting thread and some of that was nasty and very emotional.:eek: Apologies to the OP for off topic content.

Whispered

Some of what was said in that thread is ridic but I think if you feel that way you should comment there. It could do with some fresh input as opposed to the more personal comments people are throwing about after using up all their arguements for or against.

John Griffin

helena.ryan wrote: »

Some of what was said in that thread is ridic but I think if you feel that way you should comment there. It could do with some fresh input as opposed to the more personal comments people are throwing about after using up all their arguements for or against.

No thanks i think thats a thread out of control, nobody is listening over there, alot of anger, sarcasam and insults, everything has been said over and over again. No Name Ranger put in a good piece as did some other hunters and it went nowhere, they're lost in petty fighting and bogged down in details. Someone will lose an eye:D:)