Deer Management Focus of Workshop 1/31/2008

Living with white-tailed deer in an increasingly urban environment will be the focus of a free workshop Saturday, Feb. 23 at Bass Lake Park.

The Cape Fear River Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) will host the four-hour session on how to responsibly manage deer and the area's wildlife habitat.

Vehicle accidents involving deer are on the rise. Deer are feeding on gardens and expensive landscaping.

"We're destroying their habitat," said Sabrina Thompson, park naturalist at Bass Lake.

The Feb. 23 event is intended not just for hunters, but for homeowners who have deer entering their yards, and for anyone who would like to learn more about white-tailed deer.

Workshop participants will discuss the risks of allowing deer herds to go unchecked and what individuals and communities can do. For example, property owners will learn which plants deer find particularly tasty and which ones they're more likely to pass up.

After the workshop, the nonprofit wildlife organization will hold its annual meeting with a fishing contest, games for kids, and wild game barbecue. The barbecue is free to QDMA members.

Seating at the free workshop is limited. For advance registration, e-mail greaterthan8@yahoo.com or call (919) 552-9449.

Organizations represented at the workshop will include the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; the N.C. Cooperative Extension's master gardener's program at N.C. State University; N.C. Wildlife Federation; and other wildlife groups.

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Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us