I'm starting to really dislike deer

So I went out to the apple tree in my back yard one evening last week to see how my apples were doing. Hardly any apples were on my small tree. The only apples I saw were the ones too high for the deer to reach.

The same with my peach tree. All gone.

This is at least the third year in a row this has happened.

This fall, when the West Virginia DNR puts out its annual news release telling us how much deer hunting means to the state economy, I hope the agency includes these numbers about those car-smashing forest rats:

> How much was spent by gardeners, farmers and orchard owners on fencing to protect their crops from deer.

> How much insurance companies paid out in claims for car-deer collisions.

> And how much damage deer have done to lawns and shrubs in urban and urban-type areas.

I've said it before, and I say it again. This area has too many deer. The herd can't be managed solely for benefit of hunters.

Oh, yes it can. And it is.

The state charges hunters for licenses to kill deer, but it does not compensate the rest of us for the damage these forest rats cause.