How the Pittsburgh area's drought could push deer towards your yard

With this continued dry weather, parts of the Pittsburgh area are at the point where wildlife like deer will be searching for more places with food and water. That could push more toward your backyard.

Deer eat just about any native plants in the western Pennsylvania region. Their numbers are 10 to 20 times higher than before Europeans came to America, according to experts. 

Dr. Ryan Utz, an associate professor of water resources at Chatham University, said most forests you see in our region are the leftover invasive species deer won't eat.  Deer can survive and thrive in woods in urban and suburban areas. 

"As anyone who lives near a city park can attest, they are happy living in cities for the most part," Utz said.

With little to no predators besides humans, deer love it in Pittsburgh. Add in drought, and according to groups like the National Environmental Education Foundation, deer will go searching for more to eat. Your plants and gardens can become a buffet.  

"That's a lot of mouths on the ground taking down every bit of vegetation that they can possibly digest," Utz said. 

If you want to protect your plants, Utz recommends putting up a fence. 

"It has to be seven or eight feet tall to keep them out. They are going to leap into a place where they see a meal."

Utz and his team have done that with some land in the North Hills. They are seeing an area where plants are surviving and thriving without deer attacking them.

Something that's deer-resistant and native to the Pittsburgh area: the pawpaw tree. Deer will not touch it, and you get the bonus of something you can eat.