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Kerry farmers are fighting a losing battle against deer who are leaving Killarney National Park to graze on nearby farms.
They say the deer eat their grass, damage their fences and potentially spread disease.
“My father worked on the erection of a fence to keep the deer in the estate in 1926,” Sean Sweeney says.
The estate in question is Muckross, on the lakes of Killarney and running into the MacGillycuddy Reeks. The fencing took three years and extended from the lake shore to halfway up the mountain. The building of that fence was one of the final acts of private ownership of Muckross estate, as it was handed over to the state in 1931 and is now Killarney National Park.
Sean says that the fence was well maintained for most of the 90 years since, and protected the surrounding farmland from the deer population.
Sean lives on the edge of Lough Leane, on the far shore from Killarney town, with Carrauntoohil towering over behind. Land here in Tomies, as the area is known, is fertile and sought after, but marauding deer are threatening the viability of farming here.
Sean spent €600 fencing his 13 acre holding last year, putting in high-wire and stakes. It was all for nothing though – three weeks ago the deer broke back in.
“They made five gaps and ate what grass was there,” he recounts.
It’s the last straw for the farmer, who wants action and blames the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which maintains the park.
Sean’s neighbour Pat Sweeney believes the current problems started in earnest in 2010.
Cold winters
“The cold winter we had, the deer came down from the top of the mountain,” Pat maintains.
“They moved out onto the surrounding farmland, and have become an almost permanent presence since.
“The deer came onto the lowland because they were starving,” he says. “Now they won’t leave it.”
People here have huge regard for the deer, particularly the majestic native red deer which are a feature of Killarney National Park.
Pat Sweeney has a portrait of a stag in his kitchen. He says the deer often kept families from starving in tougher times, and that no one minded the odd deer encroaching.
But now you can count 30 or 40 deer on any given day.
Pat recently turned 80-years-old, but still loves his stock.
“I’d usually have 20 young cattle. I like to feed them well,” he says.
This winter, Pat has only four cattle. The sole reason is lack of fodder.
“I’d normally have 90 bales of silage from the 10 acres I cut. In 2016, I only got 34 bales. The deer had eaten the grass” he explains.
“I’m completely skinned, it’s the worst year I ever had.”
Pat has also abandoned his vegetable garden, as the deer uprooted anything he tried to grow.
Sean Sweeney, who runs a B&B with his wife Mary, says his garden shrubs have been mauled.
“Before I mow the lawn, I have to gather a wheelbarrow full of deer droppings,” he fumes.
Someone will be killed if something isn't done
A growing problem
Pat O’Driscoll is the newly-elected chairman of Kerry IFA. He says the problem is extending further and further away from the park.
“There are deer causing problems down to Kenmare and right into south Kerry,” he says.
“They are now as big an issue as prices or any other problem at branch meetings.”
Farmers also have concerns about the deer spreading TB.
“Farmers are taking all the precautions they can with biosecurity. To have deer coming in, moving from one farm to another is a major concern. There are pockets of TB out there, some of them in closed herds, and the only way you can explain it is through deer movement,” he maintains.
“The NPWS has to step up to the mark and take responsibility for the management of its land. Since the burning [of vegetation to encourage regrowth] was stopped in the National Park, the vegetation on the hills has gotten very strong and woody, and now the deer are moving out on to the sweet pick.”
Why not simply cull the marauding deer?
It’s completely illegal to do so, as deer are protected, and may only be killed under licence.
Should a farmer get a permit, it will be to shoot two, or at most three, animals. Only stags over five years old can be killed.
Pat Sweeney explains that the way to tell a stag deer’s age is to count the tips of his antlers. There will be one tip on each antler for every year of a stag’s life.
Before taking aim at a stag, then, you must count at least 10 tips on his antlers. Not simple.
It is a pointless exercise when 50 or 60 deer are routinely in his field in the morning. Similar numbers are found daily in his neighbour’s fields.
Farmers believe the NPWS are completely underestimating the size of the deer herd.
Tipp farmers facing similar problems
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