I am lucky to live in a pretty productive area when it comes to wildlife habitat. While the area is not WILD as the backcountry areas I like to hunt, I see more wildlife in the farms and rural residential areas than I do in many wilderness or roadless areas. Why do you think that is?
I have come to the conclusion that the frequent removal of vegetation through grazing and haying or mowing provides a better forage resource for animals like deer. If you look at many of the wildlands at this time of year, the tall annuals like wild oats have gone to seed and become tough, fibrous stalks without much nutritional value. In pastures that have been grazed or mowed for hay or silage, the improved varieties of perennial grasses are more drought tolerant and regrow later in the year. Consequently the deer gravitate to these areas with green feed.
Here is a great example of a pasture that has had a rotational grazing system implemented along a seasonal creek. While the neighbors field is brown and dead, upstream and down, this pasture has visible green regrowth within 7 days of the cattle being moved out of the pasture. The deer bed in the creek and feed in the field. It goes to show that agriculture, especially intensively managed grazing provides better habitat.
In the rural residential ares, deer have adapted to the variety of cover and food sources. This buck was feeding on the green regrowth from a field that had been mowed 2 weeks prior. He made an interesting choice in hiding cover. Goes to show you how adaptable deer really are!
This is a great illustration of the habitat provided by farmers ranchers and rural residents in their everyday lives. Hay-fields, pastures and creek bottoms are a wealth of wildlife activity. So support your local agriculture community and it will benefit the wildlife as well.
