- Bold ours: More ammunition for Sunday hunting!! As
more Deer problems develop, and they will, it would be positive to send
these reports to your State Rep./Senator.
Deer Management
Committee
UPDATE ON MOUNTING DEER
CONCERNS
Compiled by the Darien Deer Management Committee
1. EXPLODING POPULATION GROWTH
A doe born last Spring will produce about 24 offspring
over the next 12 years. Meanwhile, her succeeding generations will be
producing as well, EXPONENTIALLY.
In the controlled Michigan Study, after ten deer were
enclosed safely and well fed for five years, their number increased twenty-one
fold to 212. The Conn. Dept. of Environmental Protection reports that there
were only 12 deer in this state in 1896; 19,000 in the first aerial survey of
1975; 55,000 in 1995 and an estimated 76,000 in 1999.
Fairfield County (zone 11) now contains 40 deer per
square mile, double the state average of 20 per sq. mi. The difference is due
largely to the tight firearm restrictions legislated for this zone and zone
12, the New Haven area.
2. PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM OVERPOPULATION
A. Deer/vehicle Collisions: In 1999 there were
574 roadkills reported to Fairfield County police, plus 274 reported in
adjoining zone 12. The two zones account for an alarming 32% of all the known
roadkills in the entire state. Knowledgeable speakers in Darien and in New
Canaan are warning that sooner or later, a child will be seriously involved in
a local deer/vehicle collision.
Repairs per vehicle run over $2,200, a Darien body
shop reports. The recent study of 70 senior Darien men revealed that only 10%
were not concerned about the local roadkills. Seventy-six said a lot more
needs to be done to manage deer here.
B. Crippling Lyme Disease: In the recent Darien
Study, over 21% of the senior men reported that a family member here had
contracted this debilitating, but hard to diagnose, disease (and seniors are
not likely to have children roaming the woods). Of the thousands of deer ticks
tested by the Darien Health Dept. in recent years, 20-25% proved to be
infected. (A single deer can host over 10,000 ticks.)
In the recent U. of Conn. phone study of 435 New
Canaan adults, 86% said that Lyme disease was a serious problem there.
Further, 18% said that a physician had diagnosed a household member with Lyme
Disease in just the past 12 months. Experts agree that Lyme disease is indeed
very serious here, and that cases are widely under reported.
C. Defoliation: The average deer eats 5 to
10 pounds of food, foliage, flowers, and ornamentals daily. This projects
to one ton yearly per deer. Deer foraging causes ever-growing property damage,
loss of habitat for birds and smaller mammals, and threatens the local
survival of certain woodland flowers and trees. Still the Vermont Fish &
Wildlife Dept. lists seven reasons for people not to feed wild deer.
3. LOCAL OPTIONS FOR RELIEF
A. Defensive Measures: Fencing, netting, sprays
to kill ticks or protect people and plant-Life and even anti-Lyme vaccines are
only partially effective. (Deer have been seen to jump over an eight-foot
fence.) Experts warn people going outdoors (notably gardeners and children) to
cover up, use insect repellents, check for ticks and even avoid wooded or
grassy areas.
B. Contraception: Very expensive trials in
Groton, CT, and elsewhere have yet to achieve viable contraception techniques.
The cost of inoculating a doe the necessary two times at just the right times
yearly still costs $500 per deer per year. Further, deer so treated are found
to wander more on to roads. Scientists also find that castrating bucks fails,
because other bucks invariably move in from other ranges.
C. Hunting: Currently, the only accepted
way to manage deer population growth is through hunting. Zones in the state
where the use of firearms in season is allowed report some success in
controlling such growth. This strongly indicates that the enormous increase in
the state's deer population totals must be happening in the two developed
zones, Fairfield and New Haven, where firearms must be so severely restricted.
Bow hunting, the only widely accepted method of containing the deer
increase in our two zones, still appears to be under-utilized due to time
limitations and misunderstanding of the current situation. It is not for
the lack of willing volunteer sportsmen. Bow hunters harvested only 15 deer in
Darien in 1999 while 24 were killed dangerously on our roads. A local
authority assures that no one has ever been hit by a stray arrow in this area.
For those interested, the Darien police and the Town Clerk now have the Darien
list of approved hunters who are trained to shoot from high stands when people
are not around.
4. NEEDED LEGISLATIVE RELIEF FOR IMPACTED ZONES
The Darien Committee and many others in the two
seriously impacted zones (including Lyme Disease specialists) strongly urge
passage of proposed bills to again allow Sunday bow-hunting and also to extend
the season beyond the current September 15th to December 30th limit to include
all of January. Many volunteer hunters work weekdays, so can only hunt on
Saturdays now, making effective control unlikely without needed legislation.
Further, the Darien Study indicated that 81% of the
local senior men also looked favorably upon new legislation that will allow
certain non-traditional means of removing excess deer in seriously
over-populated areas with the resulting food going to the state's needy.
http://www.darien.lib.ct.us/townhall/
*****
Deer population booming
By DIRK PERREFORT 5/13/02
Hour Staff Writer
REGION -- The high density of the deer population in the area has become a
safety concern for residents and sparked a call for legislation to remedy the
problem.
Norwalk resident Mary Bones-Angeloni was concerned when a deer that wandered
into her property with a broken leg last week died in a wetland area partially
submerged in three feet of water.
"It's understandable why these animals venture on the few woodlands that
are left," she said. "But what are we supposed to do with these
animals when they die?"
Her question apparently fell on deaf ears. She called several city agencies
hoping to find the solution to the problem, including the Department of Public
Works, the health department, the police department and even the Mayor's
office, but nobody had the answer.
"We don't have the proper facilities to handle a dead deer," said
Bill Grumman, the director of the public works department. "If a car hits
a deer our crews will move it to the side of the road, but we don't have
anywhere to dispose of it properly."
Grumman said that in the past the department has referred residents to Jim
Banner, a professional in Darien who will pick up dead deer and dispose of
them.
Bones-Angeloni called Banner but was unable to obtain his services because he
was away for the weekend. She still has the dead deer in her yard.
"I'm really concerned about it," she said. "I believe that
having a rotting carcass in the area has to be a health hazard."
Howard Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of
Environmental Protection, said that the deer population in Fairfield County
is twice that of what is found in the rest of the state.
"There are approximately 40 deer per square mile in the county," he
said, adding that some places such as northern sections of Greenwich were
found to have as many as 60 deer per square mile. "There are
approximately 20 deer per square mile on average in the rest of the
state."
Kilpatrick attributes the high density of deer in the area to the increased
development that has occurred over the years.
"The principle source of mortality for deer is humans, which are the
only natural predator left in the area," he said. "Meanwhile
much of the land in the area is private, and hunters need property owners'
permission to hunt, which they can't often get because people have negative
attitudes towards hunting."
As a result, he said, developed areas such as Fairfield County have become
safe havens for deer.
"They know it's a safe area," he said.
A group in Darien, the Darien Deer Management Committee, has concerns about
the number of deer-related accidents in the region.
"The increased interest in hunting comes as a result of growing awareness
here on the dangers that the exploding deer population poses to public health
and safety," the group stated in a recent press release.
The group also cites increased incidents of Lyme disease, which is transferred
to humans by deer ticks, as a danger to area residents and has called on state
legislators to increase the hunting season through the end of January and
allow hunting on Sundays.
State Rep. Ken Bernhard, who sits on the environmental committee in Hartford,
doesn't agree that increased hunting will decrease the deer population in the
area.
"Hunting is a short term and inadequate solution," he said, adding
that recent studies have shown that increased hunting could actually increase
the deer population. "The deer population responds by producing more
fertile females that produce more offspring."
Bernhard suggested that a sterilization program could be the best solution.
"It's a humane and effective way of dealing with the problem," he
said.
Deer Control Leaps Forward
January 03, 2002 By Kent Haydock
Chairman, Darien Deer Management Committee
The year 2001 marked a major shift in local attitudes toward action on
Darien's mounting problems caused by the burgeoning deer population.
Taking the lead were mothers of families devastated by deer-tick related
Lyme disease. Two such mothers, determined to apply the only viable means
of control, initiated bow-hunting programs in their neighborhoods this
fall and achieved marked success. The official counts are not in for 2001,
but the Darien Deer Management Committee is aware of these and many other
new initiatives, and has supplied help as needed. Known deer problems,
beyond Lyme disease, include vehicle collisions caused by darting deer,
defoliation of gardens and woodlands, and now the new concern: aware that
deer longevity is about 15 years, what do we do about many deer dying on
our properties?
Thanks to strong, continuing support from
newspaper editors and town officials, many more people now demonstrate
keen awareness of the growing crisis, as well as appreciation for those
who initiate action. Volunteer sportsmen have also found time to provide
free help during the restricted bow-hunting season. While the 2001 fall
season ended Dec. 31, the list of documented hunters willing to respond
next September, remains at the Town Clerk's office and at the Darien
Police Department.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection estimates that restrictions on firearms in our populated sector
have helped foster the excessive deer density here of 40 per square mile.
That's double the state average. While state legislators have recently
allowed unlimited harvest of antlerless deer here in season, the season
remains greatly curtailed for working volunteer hunters. The committee
and others continue to work for the return of Sunday hunting and also for
the extension of the season through January. Experts see January as a
time when deer foraging causes the most damage and when hunting can be
done more expeditiously. The need is greatest in our distressed sector.
While the 2001 harvest will probably well exceed
the reported 2000 harvest of just 15 deer, the committee expects that it
will take more time just to hold the population even from year to year.
Consider that before a young woman reaches age 17, a typical doe born at
the same time will have had 24 offspring and expired. Meanwhile, if
undeterred, her succeeding generations will have produced hundreds more
deer. Five years ago, when the Darien committee was formed by First
Selectman Hank Sanders, a harvest of 15 would have been a significant
deterrent. Now, it takes an ever-larger harvest to make a significant
difference.
Therefore, one might ask those few souls who
continue publicly to slow efforts to control the population, even by
denying the facts: Aren't they just increasing the need for ever larger
future harvests? Indeed many solid findings are readily available from
doctors, scientists, auto body shops and reports to police, as well as
from affected citizenry. In 1999 reports to Fairfield County police of
deer killed in vehicle collisions totaled 574 (with vehicle damage
averaging over $2,000.) Such statistics do not include crashes caused when
a driver swerves to miss a deer, or the report that a Connecticut
motorcyclist was killed in May in a deer collision.
As for Lyme disease, 9,209 confirmed cases
of it were reported in the state in 1999. Here we congratulate Marie
Ciasullo, the registered nurse whose Darien Lyme Disease Task Force
organized the March forum that packed the Town Hall auditorium. State
scientist, Dr. Kirby Stafford, reported then that one in three of the
state's rising number of cases were in Fairfield County. Marie and her
three children suffered for several years from this debilitating disease,
Effects, such as rheumatoid arthritis, may be long lasting.
Scientists also report that a single deer consumes
over 1,700 pounds of forage a year including stripping garden and woodland
flowers and threatening the habitat of smaller animals and birds. Still
another problem emerges as our large deer population ages. That is, what
to do as more and more deer die on our properties. In September, First
Selectman Robert Harrel announced that the Public Works Department is
running out of space to bury the deer found dead on publicly owned roads
and lands. Unfortunately, private owners may have to pay over $300 to have
a decaying carcass removed. However, yard workers have been known to
eagerly remove fresh meat for their tables at no charge. Greenwich,
incidentally, has a very successful food program for shelters organized by
two public-spirited hunters with funds contributed locally for butchering.
Mr. Harrel, heeding recommendations by the town
committee, especially requested owners of large properties to engage bow
hunters in season in the interests of public health and safety. Earlier in
the year, the committee had meetings in the first selectman's office with
managers of Darien's three golf clubs and the Darien Land Trust with broad
agreement on the issues. However, the Land Trust has yet to allow hunting,
except on two smaller parcels where donors' deeds specify that hunting
must be allowed.
Also in 2001, Rob Lucas, local expert deer hunter,
with committee member, Warren Brown, initiated a quest for a town
"cooler", a refrigerator for busy hunters to park game in until
it can be butchered. Town officials are investigating a low-cost source of
one for next season. The committee plans to continue its research,
participate in further meetings, and issue periodic reports. In the
meantime, further information may be gained from the new Deer Management
Web site at www.darien.lib,ct.us/townhall/officials/deermgt. For further
information, Mr. Haydock, committee chairman, can be reached at 655-7371.http://search.newschoice.com/ArchiveDisplay.asp?story=d:\index\newsarchives\conn\condar\loc\20020103\1288891_deercontrol.txt&source=www%2Edariennews%2Dreview%2Ecom&puid=&paper=Darien+News
State takes steps to manage
deer count
By Ryan Jockers,
Staff Writer, January 19,
2002
Howard Kilpatrick stuck a rifle through an open
window on the second floor of a garage in a residential neighborhood in
midcountry Greenwich. He was looking for the deer that routinely visit the
back yard of this Parsonage Road home at dusk.
After half an hour, a deer walked out of the woods and onto the manicured
lawn, where an automatic feeder Kilpatrick had set up on the property
dispenses corn -- to the delight of nearby squirrels -- every day for a
few hours before sunset.
The deer, looking for food, came into clear view. It was wearing a white
collar.
Kilpatrick put down the rifle.
This deer had already been tagged.
Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of
Environmental Protection, is tagging deer in various sections of Greenwich
as part of a two-year study to develop a plan to manage -- if that is
possible -- the considerable number of deer in town.
In the midcountry, officials estimate there are 80 deer per square
mile; north of the Merritt Parkway, there are probably 100 deer per square
mile.
Kilpatrick was aiming a rifle at a deer from the garage of a private
residence on Parsonage Road Thursday because that's his method of tagging
deer.
Since Jan. 4, Kilpatrick and an assistant, Andrew Labonte, a DEP wildlife
technician, have been searching for adult female deer in town from a dozen
locations, mostly private properties where the homeowner has given them
permission to tag deer. Adult female deer generally stay within a specific
area. Males, especially during mating season, and young deer move around
sporadically, and the point of tagging deer is to track their migration
and habits in town.
When Kilpatrick and Labonte do spot an adult doe, they fire from a rifle a
6-inch dart that contains a tranquilizer and a tracking device, which
helps them find the deer and, while she is sedated, place a radio collar
around her neck. Currently there are 20 deer in Greenwich adorned with
these white collars, and numbered ear tags for identification.
On Thursday, Kilpatrick and Labonte began their fourth all-night hunt for
deer, starting at the spot on Parsonage Road.
During the summer, Kilpatrick gave a presentation on the town's deer
program to homeowner groups and asked residents if he could tag deer on
properties where deer are seen regularly. Eleven property owners have
given permission to tag deer on their land.
"What we're interested in are deer using people's yards,"
Kilpatrick said. "They are the deer people are concerned about. We're
not going onto big, water-company-controlled land. We want to tag in the
suburban-urban areas."
The "hunt" began at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and lasted until 5 a.m.
yesterday. During the night, Kilpatrick and Labonte tagged four deer from
10 different spots. They didn't tag any deer from the Parsonage Road
location; although they saw half a dozen deer, the only adult females they
saw had been tagged.
Kilpatrick and Labonte plan to tag deer until March, hoping to place
collars on 45 deer. During winter, dwindling food supplies spur deer to
venture closer to houses in search of green grass and shrubs.
Tagging deer is one aspect of the town's two-year, $65,000
program. Next month, the town will survey hunters in Greenwich, and in
June residents will be surveyed. The town is also looking at the history
of motor vehicle accidents involving deer in hopes of minimizing such
incidents.
When the data from each aspect of the program are complete, a presentation
will be given to the town. Denise Savageau, the Conservation Commission
director, said the information compiled from the study will assist
in determining the methods of controlling deer that would suit a
particular area of town.
Controlling burgeoning deer populations has become a hot issue in suburban
towns in Connecticut. During the past three years, the DEP has loosened
bow-hunting regulations in Fairfield County, allowing hunters to kill
unlimited numbers of female deer to help lower the animal's population.
Savageau has noted that hunting is not an option for everyone, and
believes the town will develop an approach that is appropriate for people
depending on where they live.
An aerial survey conducted last year following a snowfall
confirmed that deer are plentiful in Greenwich. It showed 60 deer per
square mile in the backcountry and 40 per square mile in the midcountry.
Kilpatrick said the survey probably underestimated the number by 50
percent.
Kilpatrick has worked in Connecticut towns that have similar
concerns about deer -- not just the overwhelming number, but the threat of
Lyme disease, which deer carry.
Although different deer-management technologies are being studied,
such as immuno-contraception, Kilpatrick said the only tried-and-true
method is hunting.
"Right now, anyone can remove deer through hunting," he said.
"Birth control is being experimented with, the technology is
improving, but it has not advanced enough to be effective."
The birth-control method of managing the deer population is similar to
tagging deer. The deer are shot with a dart containing a chemical, known
as PZP, that prevents doe eggs from being fertilized. To be effective,
though, Kilpatrick said at least 80 percent of all adult females would
need to be injected with the chemical during a certain block of time to
maintain the population, and 90 percent to reduce the population.
"To dart almost every adult female deer in Greenwich in a
six-week period," Kilpatrick said, "is impossible."
