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| "Old Rutter Before He Became H 2" in 2012: Canon 7D-300mm f2.8 L IS-ISO 400-1/1600sec f 5.0 |
Ever since my first visit during the autumn of 1998 I
have traveled to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to observe and
photograph the whitetail deer especially during summer and autumn. As
time passed I went more and more often and felt reasonably safe in
assuming that regardless of what befell whitetail deer in all of my
other favorite spots that the deer of Shenandoah would be there. I must
confess that having worked for the Pennsylvania Game Commission most of
my adult life, and therefore being very aware of deer management
issues, that a bit of concern did exist in the back of my mind that the
National Park Service could also fall victim to the malaise that has
effected so many agencies and pursue herd reduction strategies to an
unacceptable extent. This concern was further heightened by the
increasing prevalence of CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease), nevertheless I
was shocked when the NPS, suddenly and without warning to the public,
collared and/or ear tagged most of the bucks and many of the does at the
prime whitetail spots such as Big Meadows and Skyland. The collaring
was an integral part of a CWD and mature whitetail buck movement
study. Public meetings were also held to determine if herd reduction
would take place at the spots of major deer concentration within the
park either immediately or when CWD was detected within a certain
distance of the park. Much of this subject has been covered here
before, but I will remind readers that well known Virginia wildlife
photographers Larry W. Brown and Jim Fields have done an excellent job
of bringing this matter to our attention and keeping us updated on it.
For those who have not read it yet I would recommend that they read
CWD The Truth by Numbers by Larry W. Brown. This well researched article contains a wealth of information on the subject.
The
buck shown in today's first photo was a large mature buck that was a
favorite with the whitetail photographers at Big Meadows. Many feared
he was missing when he was not seen for a time after the collaring was
done, but he was eventually photographed with a large collar numbered
H2. I only went to SNP once during the rut of 2012 and was so disgusted
that I left after only 1/2 day there. Well known Pennsylvania
photographer Billie G. Cromwell did stay for some time and was able to
photograph the buck after he was collared.
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| "Old Rutter" 2012: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell |
I did intend to make a few day trips to the park this
year to personally check the situation out, but after reading reports
from Larry W. Brown that the whitetail photography was terrible at Big
Meadows I did not go. With advancing age I find that the 300+ mile
round trips are not as appealing as they used to be, especially when
there is not great likelihood of getting exceptional whitetail photos.
Billie Cromwell did spend a few days in SNP last week and was gracious
enough to share a few of his photos with us. He did photograph "Old
Rutter". This once magnificent animal was now suffering from the
effects of advancing age with his rack declining in size. It is
possible that the marked decline in rack size was triggered by the
trauma of being tranquilized and fitted with radio collar, but as
mentioned he does seem to be an old animal.
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| "Old Rutter" 2013: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell |
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| "Old Rutter" 2013: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell |
This is not the worst part of the story; however.
Many have pointed out that these collars do not fit the animals well and
may cause significant hair loss and skin damage. Such is the case in
this situation. I cropped the photos above severely so that the problem
areas are easier to analyze and they are shown below. These photos
were taken with a 5D MK III and 300mm f 2.8 lens, but the animal was too
far away to get fine detail and sharpness at this degree of
enlargement.
Note the collar is out of place and in front of the ear on one side,
while the hair is missing over a wide area under the collar and the skin
appears to be damaged with at least some sores present.
"Old Rutter" 2013: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell
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| "Old Rutter" 2013: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell |
It amazes me that is legal and acceptable for the NPS
to inflict this kind of damage and distress on an animal, yet had
Billie walked close enough to the buck to get detailed close-ups of the
damaged area it is likely, had he been observed doing so by enforcement
personnel, that we would have been warned to not approach so closely as
it could cause the animal undue stress and it is even possible he would
be arrested.
Billie reports that there were a 4-5 does
using the meadow on a fairly regular basis and he saw a few small bucks
in the woods around and going to the campground. The situation was so
bad that it did not even seem like Big Meadows. He did encounter one
buck in the woods along the drive south of Big Meadows that did not have
a collar and give him a photo opportunity.
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| Deformed 13 Point: Photo Courtesy of Billie G. Cromwell |
Whitetail viewing and photography should recover in
time if the herd is not reduced, but considering the numbers of
whitetails seen this fall, many are wondering if the herd reduction has
not already secretly taken place. There are very few things that can
impact the visibility of park deer. One and would be a lack of food on
top of the mountain, but in years with a poor mast crop, deer are
usually concentrated around the open areas such as Big Meadows and so
sightings should be higher. A heavy mast crop could keep sightings in
the meadow down, but they should be seen in plenty elsewhere along the
drive. As I have not been there this fall, I do not know what the mast
crop is like, although it is very poor in our area. Whatever the case
one cannot recommend that a serious whitetail photographer visit SNP at
this time.
Again I wish to extend a special thanks to
Billie Cromwell for most of today's photos and to Larry W. Brown for
this efforts in educating the public as to the truth about CWD and the
situation at SNP.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard C. Hill.
