Dear Readers,
Judging by the mask-free faces I’ve encountered lately, I’m guessing that life is returning to normal for many of you humans. That is the reason for this letter, on behalf of my fellow cervids and the many other species who share your cities, neighborhoods, sidewalks and lawns.
You’d probably rather forget the past year. But we’ve had a very different experience: Roads that were once perilous to cross became pleasantly quiet. A surge in home gardening left us plenty of new rosebushes and other edibles to feast upon in the early hours of the morning. And during the day, we got to know many new and friendly faces, seen through the windows and on the porches of previously empty homes. We were starting to hope that this might become the new normal: more food and fewer cars.
As you return to your offices and begin to daydream about escaping into the wilderness, take a moment to gaze out your window. The wilderness is coming to you.
Sadly, it now appears that more of you than ever are venturing outside and, worse, are back out on the roads. This makes our own lives more challenging, but more than that, we worry that the newfound and fragile peace we’ve developed with humans will soon be broken.
You see, we members of the urban wildlife community have long found ourselves at odds with humans. You need look no further than the media to see reports of conflicts across the country. Just in the past year alone, coyotes have “terrorized” residents of San Jose. Peacocks are “ruffling feathers” across Los Angeles. And wild turkeys have “overrun” Spokane and other towns across the Pacific Northwest.
Rural areas are not exempt from human/wildlife conflict. Throughout the West, ranchers denounce wolves for attacking their cows and sheep. Beavers have long been vilified for disrupting human-engineered creeks and streams. And let’s not forget about all those pigeons and possums and racoons who never seem to find a welcome spot in anyone’s yards, let alone their hearts.
Some people say we should be “managed” or “culled.” But let’s not sugarcoat it: You want us killed, like any other household annoyance. Consider our struggles here in my hometown of Ashland, Oregon. Not long ago, many residents were calling for our execution, accusing us of stalking and attacking humans — a simple misunderstanding really; we tend to overreact when dog walkers get a bit too close to our young.
One might think that we would be more comfortable in the forested hills that surround this small town. But have you ever gotten in the way of a mountain biker coming at you at high speed? I don’t mind telling you that I may be more comfortable dodging automobiles than those crazy humans on bikes.
And then there are controlled burns. Fires, in small doses, can be good for the soil, and they keep grasslands from becoming forests (and we do love grasslands). But burning is now a year-round routine in the Western states, done to keep towns safe from wildfires. That’s all well and good for you humans and your homes. But what about us? Where are we supposed to go when our food supplies are suddenly charred? Can you really blame us for seeking out the relative safety of your freshly watered lawns?
Hunters will tell you that they can take care of the deer population. Just let ’em loose with their guns and arrows, and problem solved. Except that it doesn’t always work that way. We’re territorial, much like humans, so if a few of us die, others will quickly assume their places. And let’s dismiss the myth that humans are needed to manage our population. It turns out that wolves do a much better job: A recent study in Wisconsin found a 24% reduction in deer and vehicle collisions since wolf recolonization began. (And, yes, we deer do read the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.)
Wolf populations are rebounding because humans have embraced rewilding, the idea of letting nature go back to being nature. And I’ve got good news for you — rewilding took a huge leap forward over the past 18 months.
But rewilding is a two-way street. As we become more visible, especially in places you’ve never seen us, you may need to rewild your own worldview. Drive more slowly. Keep your eyes open. And don’t fret if you see us on your lawns. Rewilding is not just about letting a few species run free far away from human civilization. It’s about allowing our world to cross over into your world. But we’re willing to give it a try if you will.
And there is a huge upside to urban rewilding. As you return to your offices and begin to daydream about escaping into the wilderness, take a moment to gaze out your window. The wilderness is coming to you.
Respectfully yours,
An American Deer
This letter from an American deer was transcribed and submitted by John Yunker, cofounder of Ashland Creek Press, author of the novel The Tourist Trail and editor of Writing for Animals. Learn more at www.johnyunker.com. This story was originally published at High Country News (hcn.org) on July 29, 2021. Photo: Scott Carroll/Unsplash
People are the worst!
Did I just click over to Disney Channel? Sorry, but this was anthropomorphic silliness. The authors wet dream of wilding the US does not add up with the increase of population, both native and immigrant. The best we will do is set aside wild places with strict rules and proper funding, that is where we should concentrate.
My local forest is brimming with food due to the good rain we’ve had this summer. But mule deer still walk all over town because 1) idiots break the law and feed them. 2) they have lost their natural fear of people over the years. So they hang around town and get hit by cars occasionally. So yes, drive carefully people.
When I hit a deer on a very busy interstate it was such an impact that it cracked the car’s battery! This was an old heavy-duty Biscayne too.
Does anyone know if those inaudible-to-us deer whistles actually work? Never want to go through that again!
The Adventure Journal has found their tactic for engagement: frequently posting unrealistic, extreme forms of environmentalism to get readers riled up. Welcome the cable news of adventuring.
Since this is happening so regularly know, it begs the question: Does AJ support a philosophy of humans as only visitors to the natural world, people as unworthy of stepping off trail, without the agency to even pick a mushroom for fear ending a plant life and disturbing a micro-ecosystem? This article is so fraught with unscientific thinking and myth, it can’t be taken seriously, even if you took away the gross anthropomorphic Bambi-ism. But if this is the website’s philosophy, you need to disavow every clip of a mountain biker speeding down a highly engineered trail, or racing downhill, and every climber knocking off a clump of gravel during a bouldering move.
This is getting ridiculous. You once had a video of a guy mountain biking down a road who picked up a rock with a brown spot on it, somehow declared it a petroglyph, and placed it back in a bladed gravel road with a sanctimonious lecture about cultural appropriation. Lecturing has becoming more important than scientific reality. Come on. You guys are getting out over your skis.
Why not instead focus on the bill increasing wildlife highway crossings, or conservation efforts preserving and improving habitat? This article does zero to help man or animal. But is sure gets people mad and it sure give the author a sense of righteousness.
Dan, there are lots of ways to enjoy the outdoors and have adventures, and many ways of viewing the human impact on wilderness and nature as a whole. Essays are largely anecdotal and opinion-based, and we don’t always agree with the author’s point of view. Beyond that, the world, and our experience of it, is complicated. Further, the thrust of this piece is, essentially, hey, wildlife is all around, try to enjoy it rather than eradicate it. Not sure how that’s particularly unrealistic or extreme. We frequently cover wildlife crossing construction, and conservation efforts generally. There’s plenty of room for that and slightly tongue in cheek essays written from the experience of a deer. Thanks for reading, JH.