| Many forms of wildlife are perceived as pest, and some of these species have non-market or aesthetic value, but white-tailed deer are one of the few that also have market value. These positive values help lessen the negative feelings toward deer from crop and other damage attributed to deer.;The total value of crop damage from deer in South Carolina during 1991 was estimated at 52.4 million dollars or 7.6 percent of the total value of the state's agricultural crops. Except for the farmers experiencing severe damage, the attitudes of many of the respondents were positive concerning the presence of deer on their property. Many of the producers were willing to accept a substantial amount of damage in exchange for having deer present on their farm.;The positive aspects of deer contributing to this positive attitude toward deer were the market and non-market benefits associated with hunting leases. There was also an aesthetic value placed on deer by many of the respondents. These positive and negative aspects to deer were used to estimate an economic threshold model for deer.;The model supported the hypothesis that the positive values increased the economic threshold. The economic threshold varied from 25.6 deer per square mile for the farmer who considered deer only as a pest, to 44.16 deer per square mile for a farmer who used deer in their farm plan as a value component. The result was that the optimal abatement level for deer damage is lower when positive deer values are included, than when they are not. |
