Deer chaos

Wild deer causing chaos in Tourmakeady

Emer Gallagher

AN INVASION of wild deer has been causing chaos in Tourmakeady and the damage left in their wake has spiralled out of control, say locals.
And the only solution, it seems, may be culling the animals.
“The most upsetting thing is that they have moved into the cemetery here in Tourmakeady. A couple of new graves have been trampled on shortly after people buried their loved ones,” said local man Michael John Casey. “They have damaged my own family grave. They have eaten everything off it and they have broken wreaths. It is causing a lot of upset in the area.”
According to locals, a small number of deer were released into the woods over 20 years ago but the numbers have increased dramatically in the last five years, causing major problems in Tourmakeady village and surrounding areas.
Tomás Heneghan has had a number of problems with the animals. “A large number of deer have been in one of my fields all winter and they have been causing problems such as damage to walls and eating the grass. My silage yield will be reduced this year by about 15 bales,” he said.
“I usually put cows in the field in April but I couldn’t this year because there was no grass left so I ended up selling cows. In order to ‘deer-proof’ my field I would have to erect a six-foot high fence around the entire field, which would be about a mile.”