The Damaging Effect of Feeding Wildlife

By Kelsey Martin, Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla, Dr. Jan Novakofski and Dr. Nelda A. Rivera

“It may be tempting to feed deer, especially in the winter, when you think it is more difficult for a deer to find food, but a deer’s digestion and metabolism become well adapted to the food naturally available to them. Occasionally feeding deer foods that they are not used to can change their metabolism, making it harder to process their natural food and causing them to burn essential fat faster. It can actually lead to starvation instead of helping.”

A photo of a large pile of corn cobs scattered all over the ground near a woodland. In the background is a dark green pickup truck parked along side a gravel road.
A corn bait pile for attracting deer and wildlife. Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

CHAMPAIGN, IL – From infectious diseases transmitted among animals (and that could in some cases affect humans), to changes in natural behavior that may cause fatal accidents;  there are multiple reasons why not to feed wildlife.  If you care for them, you will be interested in reading the article entitled “The Damaging Effect of Feeding Wildlife”. In this article, the authors used deer as an example of the negative effect of the humans that feed them.

Read the whole story at the Outdoor Illinois Wildlife Journal, here.