Grandma is a Disney Princess for the Neighborhood Deer

Suppertime! This herd of deer know that she's not going to do anything to them besides feed them. They don't quite trust videographer Erika Michelle behind her, though. That's probably a good thing, overall.

Grandma is adorable, but this brings up the question of whether it is ever okay to feed wildlife.

My town has a river walk that took a few years to get off the ground. Families with children avoided the walk because of the Canada geese who terrorized anyone on their turf. The ducks were shy, but people came down and fed them stale white bread. Then the city installed duck chow vending machines, and both the ducks and the geese became downright sociable. They were also better fed, plus more people came to the river walk, and the city makes money off the duck chow. It can be argued that these are not wild animals, because the city wants them there. The system still had some unintended consequences, as some folks have dumped unwanted ducks of all kinds to fend for themselves with the river flock.

However, when you feed coyotes, wolves, or bears, you get them used to coming around people for a meal. That will eventually lead them to being killed in the name of safety. The same goes for other wild animals such as raccoons, opossums, and even squirrels. Giving them human food is not good for their nutrition. Even providing their own type of food makes them dependent and can suppress their natural food foraging skills, leading them to become aggressive when the food supply slows. The exception to this rule may be feeding wild birds, but there are still pros and cons to that question. 

Feeding wild deer can lead them to reproduce more than the forest can handle. That leads to damaged trees stripped of their bark, and then necessary deer culling. The only way that makes sense is if we eat them all, but crowded deer habitats also lead to disease spreading among them, which negates any benefit to humans.

-via Laughing Squid ​