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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1979)
BATTALION Page 5 NOVEMBER 20, 1979 the state exas deer population declining LULAC demands query By HARVEY LAAS ial to the Battalion ■The quality of the white-tailed er population in parts of Texas has Idually declined for a number of s. The decline is a problem not from an aesthetic viewpoint, but also in terms of economics. Jt is true that most hunters will plrobably not stop hunting because theastemc .tiering I ould be iduce part j 1 needs frj d Jasper eil " ^ 11 the deer are small. But there is al- n0N |lnw' s cause l ()r concern when mem- ier , u Jjeisofa species begin to get smaller, agoaotn*, j ec ii ne Been in body and uel,nthe ' antler size. , . ■wo factors have been linked to esearcDM ■ Q f white-tailed deer: ■n supports g. )r nu t r jB on anc i genetic selection uqihe) saif |. ar( | sma u er deer, nto bwiMS fc eS earch into these problems is irvimal, mi i n g con (lucted at the Kerr Wildlife ;mg. Iht [■ na gement Area mear Kerrville in “ the the Hill Country. red. .B}ob Armstrong, wildlife biologist account I j( err are a, said that deer need atb ast 10-11 percent protein in their 51i«t for proper growth. Armstrong lays forthe Kerr Area conducted a prog- ^ 0 " mos ram raising a number of bucks of 10 ■■cent protein and then reduced it 8 percent. This resulted in re ed antler size and fewer points, ince antler development is at [st in part a reflection of general :1th, one can see the effect even a drop in protein can cause, w p ro tein deficiency is caused a number of factors. One is that are too many deer in many as. Another is competition with vaudevilleiBnestic livestock. These two prob- ISC Tom^s are often interrelated. [he Texas Harks and Wildlife De- tment has been working with [downers in an effort to overcome ise problems. lim Yantis is a wildlife technician b the department stationed in an. He said that few understand nutritional requirements of r, because deer eat little grass. A Jiite-tail deer s main food sources forks (small broad-leaf plants) browse (the tips and leaves of sh). Thus, one problem has been need to educate people about the luirements of deer. JlSheep and goats compete more di- ’l bn cominglolj the form of] itaged inBsj y at 8:15 p L‘d on an i hie at the I 6. ELPP1 •OREST FH ; • ''N '■ i ,' V/V c •4 -^>7 Special ed policy attacked United Press International BROWNWOOD — The League of United Latin American Citizens Monday demanded an investigation of the Brownwood school district, alleging its special education department was a dumping ground for Mexican- American children. The Hispanic civil rights group, acting on the complaint of three special education teachers who resigned in protest, said many non-English speaking stu dents were being assigned to the department because they could not pass examinations written only in English. LULAC said the policy bol stered the enrollment in the de partment designed for handicap ped students, which resulted in higher state and federal pay ments for the subsidized program. The complaint alleged that de spite state law, parents of Span ish-speaking children — often unable to speak English them selves — were given consent forms to sign that were in English only. The teacher-LULAC com plaints claimed that many stu dents were placed in special edu cation even though they had pas sed the evalution tests. The com plaints also alleged there were no Spanish-speaking teachers in the special education department. The teachers, Rayla Stiles, Pat ricia Roberts and Rebecca Cole resigned Oct. 1, in protest of the conditions but the Board of Edu cation refused to accepted their resignations because they would not stay until replacements were found. The board is now attempting to have the teachers’ certifications revoked because of their failure to be at work. LULAC said it would defend the teachers in any action taken against them by the district. LULAC also said it had asked the education committees of the Legislature to investigate wrong doing by the school. The com plaints also were filed with the new U.S. Department of Educa tion, the Texas education depart ment and the regional civil rights office. Both weight and antler size of mature white- tail bucks throughout Texas have grown steadily smaller over the past two decades. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr ttly with deer because their food ornirT )its are more closely related, ndowners who wish to have sheep 1 goats, as well as deer, must keep s in mind when deciding how ch livestock to raise, Merrill said. Brazos Couhty does not have an ^population problem. Yantis said population here has been slowly lining since around 1970. He said t hunting has not been a cause of I decline, but that a number of ngs have contributed. Destruction of habitat appears to one of the main contributors, he Id. The urbanization of the county pthe clearing of land for improved ture are responsible for the loss of )itat. The number of cattle has b increased, adding to competi tion. However, their grandfathers hunted does because it was normal practice in those times. Buck hunt ing started more recently when deer populations were greatly reduced in the 1930s by overgrazing. Others believe that there are not as many deer now as in the past. Yantis said that in some cases this is true, but the habitat may have changed due to more cattle being Two factors have been linked to the decline of white-tailed deer: poor nutrition and genetic selection toward smaller deer. introduced or improved pasture. This means that the land can support fewer deer. Also, human nature can come into play. Because does are not hunted. many areas have a population imba lance, with does out numbering bucks five to one. Yantis said this causes populations to go through boom and bust cycles. If, during one year, range conditions are particularly good there will be a large fawn crop. This cycle will re peat itself as long as an imbalance exists. If there is a better balance between bucks and does, the popu lation will be more stable because it will not capable oflarge leaps in pro duction. It is a widely held belief that spikes, deer with unbranched antlers, are yearlings which will de velop larger antlers later. Armstrong said this is not the case. Studies at the Kerr area and elsewhere have shown that spikes are caused by poor nutrition and genetics. c opi es :ffft, 0aality Tantis said that a rise in the coyote Dulation has also caused increased dation on the young deer in Bra- s County as well as other parts of : state. It is not known how much bet coyotes have, but it is believed it they affect a deer population’s lity to bounce back after losses. I It ho ugh Brazos County does not e an overpopidation of deer, the ation is different in Robertson iunty, located immediately to the Irth. It has a great number of deer. Under these circumstances, it is ually recommended that some doe nting be permitted. The Parks d Wildlife Department does not ve jurisdiction to set limits in all unties. In some counties the com- issioners court has this power. This is the case in Robertson >unty. Many landowners there and oughout the rest of the state still doe hunting is bad. As Yantis inted out, many people feel it is ong to hunt does because of tradi- OVERNIGHT RATES — 4t DURING THE DAY Reductions €f Dissertations Collation &Bindtng&PadtOng WE HAVE A XEROX 9400 — THE BEST COPYING MACHINE IN THE WONDf Kinko’s Graphics, Inc. 201 College Main St. 17131846-9508 The Corps of Cadets gets its news from the Batt. 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