The head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section is urging residents to be aware of increased wildlife activity this fall.
With the mating or “rutting” season approaching, Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm said residents should be aware of deer on the roads and woods.
“Keep an eye out for wildlife that is being displaced,” Halm told NewCanaanite.com. “There will be a lot more road crossings, for sure.”
Halm said four deer were spotting crossing Marvin Ridge Road on a recent morning and that “the anxiety level rises in the wildlife” this time of year.
Part of the reason is that the archery deer-hunting season is underway.
“There will be hunters in tree stands,” Halm said.
The shotgun-rifle-revolver season for deer-hunting on private land runs Nov. 16 to Dec. 6.
According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the rutting season runs from late-October to early-January.
“In Connecticut, the peak of the rutting season is the last two weeks in November,” according to the state. “Fawns, weighing from four to eight pounds, are usually born in June. They remain under the female’s care through September, when they are weaned. The number of young born ranges from one to four, depending upon the age and condition of the doe. In Connecticut, twins are common and triplets and quadruplets have been recorded. Female fawns born early in spring have the potential to breed by the following fall.”
Deer have made headlines in New Canaan recently, after a severed deer head was found in the driveway of the home of a Democratic town official—a matter addressed in a letter from the heads of both the DTC and RTC in New Canaan. According to Halm, a second incident subsequently was reported to police and it’s under investigation by DEEP.