ABSTRACT
People visit and/or live in wooded landscapes for a variety of reasons, including esthetic and lifestyle. Some meet their needs in visits to public forestlands such as parks; others choose to live in forested residential communities. When they are there, they assume that their safety and that of their property are assured. Most visitors/residents are unfamiliar with forest ecology and the composition of forest plant and animal communities, but it is safe to say that most expect—indeed, some look forward to—encountering deer. It is equally safe to say that prior to visiting/moving to the woods, most were unaware of the impact deer can have on vegetation and their health. And, sooner or later, many come into conflict with deer: some experience extensive browsing damage to shrubs and flowers on their residential woodland properties and increased storm water runoff from a lack of adequate understory vegetation, while others note severe impact on understory herbaceous vegetation in parks (Knight et al. 2000); some are involved in deer-vehicle collisions; and some contract deer tick-borne diseases (see Chapter 7) that require medical treatment and have the potential to be life threatening.
