Wildlife officials urge public not to feed wildlife

RENO - Nevada wildlife officials are urging the public not to feed deer, even though the animals are struggling to cope with deep snow across much of the state.

People have to simply accept the fact that deer and other wildlife will struggle during severe winters.

"This is the toughest time of year on them," said Chris Healy, spokesman for the Nevada Division of Wildlife. "We are going to lose some deer."

Division officials said they have received an increasing number of calls from people worried about the plight of deer after a string of powerful storms.

The storms have dumped as much as 19 feet of snow in the Sierra and 61Ú2 feet in the Reno area since Dec. 28.

"People are asking if there's anything they can do, and there really isn't," Healy told a Reno newspaper.

"Deer have to be left on their own, and people don't understand that."

He cited an effort during a heavy winter in the early 1990s in which some Reno-area residents fed deer with hay.

A train hit some deer attracted to the feed, while others died a short time after gobbling up the hay.

Loading up on alfalfa was too much for the systems of animals accustomed to diets of sagebrush and bitterbrush.

"It would have the effect of someone that's eaten nothing but oatmeal all their life and then giving them nothing but hot chili peppers," Healy said.

The best thing people can do is to protect winter habitat that shelters and feeds deer, Healy said. Rapid development across the region is causing a loss of wildlife habitat, he added.