Farmland Deer

     Here in southeastern Pennsylvania, most of us think of white-tailed deer to be forest animals.  And, indeed, that is where most white-tails shelter during the day because woodlands are the only cover available to them, particularly in winter when croplands are harvested to the ground.  But most deer in this area feed in farmland the year around, as well as in woods.  Those are deer the majority of local people most often experience.   
     White-tailed deer are not animals of the deep woods.  Rather, they are creatures of the forest edge where they can hide in dense thickets of shrubbery and vines and feed in clearings under the cover of darkness.  And because they are adaptable, they take advantage of farmland to get much of their food.  Combinations of woods and fields are a great plus for white-tailed deer.  And well-fed does usually have twin fawns every year, which bolsters the deer population.
     A few days before this writing, I saw two white-tails walking through a soybean field at dusk one evening during the middle of June.  They were one of each gender.  They crossed the country road I was on in front of me and bounded through a field of tall rye.  Only their heads were visible in the rye.
     Another time, in summer, I saw a group of five deer come out of a small patch of trees and into an overgrown field that was surrounded by expressways and shopping centers.  It appeared those white-tails could only get out of that field by risking their lives in traffic.
     Another summer evening, I saw two deer step out of a field of tall corn and start to graze on alfalfa adjacent to the cornfield.  Those fields were nearly a mile away from any woods, so I thought they spent the day in the cornfield while waiting to venture into the alfalfa.
     I've also seen two does and four fawns consuming soybeans in a field one late afternoon toward the end of August.  These deer probably lived in the forest nearby.
     Several white-tails, young and old alike, emerge from the woods in Lancaster County Central Park in Lancaster County during summer to ingest the leaves and ears of corn.  Some of the park patrons notice those deer.
     I've often experienced a few white-tails in fields during daylight hours.  Some of them are browsing on vegetation.  But others are does that have fawns lying down and hiding in the dense vegetation of alfalfa and clover fields.  The mothers enter the fields to nurse their young.      
     During winter, groups of deer come out of the woods at dusk to feed on waste corn lying in harvested fields and the green sprouts of winter rye.  Those deer are most visible in moonlight, or when snow is on the ground, or both.  Scores of white-tails at once in a field are thrilling to see in those winter evening conditions.
     Though most white-tailed deer do bed down for the day in woodlands in this area, many of them feed in fields where they are more visible to us.  They are a large, wild animal that is thrilling to see here in overly-civilized southeastern Pennsylvania.