Deer census shows increase in population

Several deer bounded across Nebraska Highway 4 on Saturday, running from volunteers.

The volunteers were helping with the 2008 Deer Census at the Homestead National Monument. The census was a part of Public Lands Day, when volunteers are needed to help with National Park Service areas, picking up trash, relocating brush or helping with other chores the park needs to accomplish.

The volunteers walked almost a mile, starting at the Heritage Center and ending at Cub Creek.

The deer census has taken place each year at the Homestead since 2003.

Park Resource Manager Jesse Bolli said fall is the best time of year to do the census because it’s the easiest time to  differentiate between bucks, does and fawns.

Volunteers didn’t have an easy job, though. Nathan and Nicholas Ottens, both 9, came to Beatrice from Marysville, Kan., to help with the census. The tall grass and thick brush was hard to walk through for the young boys.

For their service and their hard work, Park Ranger Merrith Baughman presented the boys with Junior Ranger badges.

"They had some tough stuff they were going through and they were good sports about it,” Baughman said.

The volunteers ended up counting 25 deer, including a 5-by-5 (antlers with five points on each side) buck that was spotted by several volunteers. The number was up five from the previous year, and Bolli said is five times the historic level.

“Deer are kind of overpopulated in Southeast Nebraska,” Bolli said.

The deer are counted to give rangers an idea of what kind of impact the animal will have on the Homestead’s vegetation.

“Deer can have a lot of negative impacts on the diversity of plants,” Bolli said. “It’s good to have an idea of how many deer are out there.”

According to Bolli, the census revealed that the deer population is high this year.

For their help, volunteers were given a coupon which waived any fees for National Park Service areas, including campgrounds.

“I’m excited to see the people that keep coming back,” Bolli said, looking at the orange-vested crowd.

Bolli pushed three fawns through the wooded area to get them counted, too.

The group walked back to the Education Center where the numbers were counted and multiplied to gain the average per square mile for the Homestead area (an estimated 100 deer per square mile).

Picking beggarslice (also known as wait-a-minutes) off of his clothes, Nathan Ottens was frustrated.

“Do we have to come back next year?” he asked his mother.

“We don’t have to,” Nicholas said, picking off his own wait-a-minutes, “but I want to."