More Park Facilities Reopen During May 2013 Watch Hill and
Sailors Haven marinas open May 10. Limited ferry service from
Sayville to Sailors Haven resumes May 13 and ferries from
Patchogue to Watch Hill start on May 18. Remaining park
facilities to reopen by May 25, 2013. More » White-tailed deer
(Odocoileus virginianus) are the most widely-distributed large
mammal in North America. While native to Atlantic barrier
islands, deer were rarely spotted on Fire Island when it was
first designated as a National Seashore in 1964. Today, however,
deer are commonly seen across FIre Island - from the Fire Island
communities on the western end of the island to the undeveloped
Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness on the eastern end.
(Find out more about Fire Island deer biology.) Over the last 40
years the deer population has increased on Fire Island. In 1974
Fire Island's deer herd was estimated at 50 individuals and by
1989 it was close to 500. In 2003 the deer population on Fire
Island was estimated to be betwee