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Deer Key National Wildlife Refuge is located around and throughout much of Big Pine Key and No Name Key, situated between Marathon and Key West, Florida. Within the refuge and region live an estimated 300 to 800 of the endangered key deer species, Odocoileus virginianus clavium.
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A subspecies of the white-tailed deer, key deer are, obviously, an endangered. They’re quite small (adults stand between 26 and 30 inches in height), graceful, and lovely. They can easily swim from one island to another and often do so while searching for the fresh water. They’re eat a wide range of plants, but are often focused mainly on mangrove growth.
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Big Pine Key and No Name Key are the two islands where you’re damn near sure to find these special Keysian residents without having to get on a boat. I visited these two islands on 09 July with my father and 10 July with my wife. On both days were saw an abundance of these precious and rare animals, up close and personal. Though cautious, key deer aren’t nearly as eager to flee as their white-tail relatives. This can (and does) work against them, though. Sadly, on the 10th we also saw two dead key deer — victims of automobiles.
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Approximately thirty to forty key deer are killed each year by vehicular collision, mainly on the primary thoroughfare of the Florida Keys, US1. Under-road passes have been built to try to alleviate the number of these collisions, but these automotive deaths still happen — and will continue to happen as long as key deer share their land with people, roads and vehicles. When land is precious and rare in a vast sea of green and blue water, the line between “wilderness” and “civilization” is a blurry and false one at best. (Though, to be honest, I could make the argument that “wilderness vs. civilization” is always a false oppositional binary.)
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Still, despite the annual collisions, the key deer have recovered enormously in the 20th century. In the 1950s, they were damn near extinct. Only about 25 were believed to have survived. The Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1957, but hunting key deer had actually been banned back in 1939. The better side of humanity has worked to preserve this lovely and elegant species.
I don’t know what the future will hold for key deer. The Keys continues to develop and populate — but perhaps people will respect the National Wildlife Refuge system and not try to destroy it in the name of profit and capital gain? Perhaps. And perhaps people will be more cautious in their cars as they travel south toward Key West? Perhaps…?
~ janson
Filed under: Florida, Mammals Tagged: Odocoileus virginianus clavium Image may be NSFW.
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