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the Northern Piedmont, and most of the rest of the Commonwealth as wen. However, a landscape without deer was not what society wanted, and in 1926 the VDGIF initiated an extensive reintroduction program. Over the next 25 years, more than 1300 deer from eleven different states were released in Virginia, in addition to movement of deer between counties.
How well this program succeeded is a testament to the reproductive powers of the deer. Under ideal circumstances, deer can double their populations annually, and by 1970 the reintroduced deer had reestablished themselves throughout Northern Piedmont. The Virginia Deer Management Plan shows just how successful this effort has been:
• In Rappahannock County the estimated deer density (more than 30 per square mile, as of 1986) exceeds the human density (26 pet square mile). That’s probably not a surprise to most Rappahannock residents, but it does confirm some suspicions. Clarke County is next; it also has more than 30 deer per square mile, but on average 79 people Occupy that same area.
• Despite Loudoun County’s 48 percent growth rate of its human population between 2000 and 2005, its land area is still 95 percent deer habitat, a testament to the white-tail’s habitat flexibility. Similarly Prince William County, with a 26.5 percent human growth rate over the same period, still has 85 percent of its land area suitable for deer, and Culpeper County has 97 percent of its land still deer habitat, despite its 20 percent human growth
81.3%