No one needs a scientific survey to notice that very few deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park have aged beyond two years. The photo here was taken before 2010—the year Valley Forge started shooting its deer.

According to park officials there were 1,277 deer when they first baited the hapless beings and shot all they could, looking to reduce this long-established group to fewer than 185.

Any individual deer who survives one such annual massacre is highly unlikely to make it through the next. The lifespan of a deer is about 16; Valley Forge’s deer are infants and adolescents. For them, preserving intergenerational memory is out of the question.

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