Feeding Deer Illegal After Labor Day

    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - State wildlife officials are reminding Virginians that effective September 1, it will be illegal to feed deer.
    The statewide prohibition runs through the first Saturday in January. The regulation took effect in 2006 and is intended to help keep the deer population in check, prevent the spread of disease and reduce vehicle collisions with deer.
    Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries deer project coordinator Matt Knox says many people feed deer because they believe it will keep them from starving, but winter starvation has been almost nonexistent in the Virginia deer population.
    The feeding prohibition does not restrict the planting of crops such as corn and soybeans.