Town in a deer dilemma
Sept. 16 summit set on herd control
16 comments below
An ever-growing deer population has sparked an ever-growing concern for the health and safety aspects of deer-human interaction in Southold. For example, this deer carries a piece of temporary fencing picked up in Paradise Point.
As it has done for the past several years, the Town Board this week approved a special bow and arrow hunting season this fall. The one difference is that the opening, Monday, Oct. 5, is two months earlier than last year's. The town and County Legislator Edward Romaine are additionally sponsoring a public forum at Town Hall on Sept. 16 to discuss the extent of the problem and explore potential options.
"We need to raise awareness at all levels, especially at the regulatory level, on the overabundance of deer," Mr. Russell said. "This is a question of health and safety, and it's a problem everywhere in town."
The town police record hundreds of deer-related motor vehicle accidents each year, and the hungry herds cause huge financial losses in the agricultural industry. Residential landscaping is also constantly under assault.
"They're eating everything five to six feet high," the supervisor added. "They're destroying the ecosystem [that] we're spending a lot of money to protect."
Mr. Russell said he sympathizes with those who object to systematically killing animals viewed by many as a graceful symbol of the North Fork's still-bucolic nature.
Voting Tuesday afternoon, the Town Board was unanimous in its approval of this year's special deer management program, which permits archery hunting on a number of town-owned properties. The town clerk's office will issue permits by lottery drawing. The bow season runs from Oct. 5 to Dec. 31.
The supervisor said he hopes to establish an integrated deer management program with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, farmers and hunters.
"We're no longer in the business of wildlife management," he said. "We're now into pest control."
While local numbers are not available, the DEC estimates the total deer population in Nassau and Suffolk at between 10,000 and 21,000. The agency describes the deer population as "very robust." In the past 10 years the deer have expanded in numbers and in their range, pushing west into western Suffolk and eastern Nassau.
Deer-related motor vehicle accident numbers spiked to 246 in 2006, fell to 201 in 2007 and reached 222 last year, according to the town police. This year's total through Aug. 25 is 117.
Police Capt. Martin Flatley said he expects that number to rise significantly as the animals enter their reproductive cycle in the fall. At that time, deer of both sexes are often on the move and cross local roadways.
The actual number of deer-vehicle collisions could be as much as 20 percent higher, Capt. Flatley added. That is based on the number of deer carcasses found on the side of the road with no corresponding accident report.
tkelly@timesreview.com
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16 comments found
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Salt lick dee control : 10/13/2011
Salt licks for deer control are still being researched as other animals could also be involved & therefore cannot be approved .
Feel free to pay for vehicle, garden damage & deer controll methods. Money talks.
Hunters are already paying license fees
Untold costs : 9/3/2009
Twice my car has been run into by deer - a small deer ran into my front bumper (no visible damage to my vehicle) and then once a larger deer ran into the side of my vehicle while the car in front of me stopped to let a 6-point buck cross the road. $350 to repair the bent panel. There is no underfoliage in all of Bayview. Please stop these animals from starving and stop the millions of dollars of damage.
deer dilemma : 8/29/2009
Recently in New Jersey a community recruited volunteer hunters armed with single shot shotguns (slugs), equipped with scopes and placed them in tree blinds. They only shot below them taking does first but shooting all deer that appeared. A few hours over a few days. Very successful.
deer salt licks : 8/29/2009
just read this article and i an interested in the salt lick/birth control method. i live in NC and our community would like to try this. i have looked all over the net and can't seem to find where to purchase them. can you tell me where you got them? thanks
Deer : 8/28/2009
Too many deer in Suffolk,and too many people in the world.The breeding goes on.
Kill a deer, or let humans die : 8/28/2009
Honestly, I am sick of people saying not to kill the cute little deer. Look, here's a fact, I was born and grew up in Southold. As a kid, we never, ever, had anywhere near the deer problems we do now. We all drove around not even concerned with hitting a deer, they really weren't a problem. Then all of a sudden, about 10 years ago or so, the population seems to have exploded. Scott, tell the highway department to save money and remove all the speed limit signs on the side streets, because honestly, we don't need them. I am scared sh*tless when driving at night now, because one came almost through my windshield last year while my daughter was in the car. In addition to the $6,000 my insurance company paid, it cost me 500 for the deductible, and left a lasting impression on my family. All you deer lovers out there, it is only a matter of time until humans start dying from deer strikes, if it hasn't happened already. How long until we have someone eastbound on 48 at night swerve to avoid a deer and kill a westbound family, similar to what happened in Westchester a few weeks ago? How long until this problem starts killing people? Motorcyclists? (who are, ostensibly, people too), Bicyclists (who are mostly crazy people, but nonetheless). Seriously, this is a problem we must address. "Permits" should be widely available, advertised, and just about free. This is not about town income or convering the program's costs, because in effect, the Town is recruiting the hunters to assist in solving a town problem. So therefore give the hunters free permits, plenty of town areas to hunt, and let them have at it. And make disposal or re-use of the carcass simple. Make a deal with the DEC so they just have to drag the carcass to the dumps or some highway department property and then let the DEC come and catalog the kills later. Folks, this has got to stop. You want to use birth control salt licks, fine, use them, they are but one method. But you should also use arrows, shotgun slugs, and anything other than the lives of my family to remedy our deer problems. They are cute, when there are 2 of them in your yard. But when one is 6" from your face, and you have to go to ELIH to have glass shards taken from your eye because a herd of them was crossing 25 at Alberson's, they are a menace. I am sorry to all the enviro-people out there, but these things must be controlled.
Deer Meeting : 8/27/2009
There hasn't been the carnage to which you refer. Give it time, Scott. It's an accident just waiting to happen. Speaking of carnage, have you driven Route 25 between the New London ferry and the Greenport turnoff ? Bloated animal corpses of every conceivable species, including Bambi, continually line the sides of that stretch of road. Instead of hunting irresponsibly in a densely populated area, why not just scoop up the fresh road kill every morning on Route 25 ? That should be enough to feed you for a month of Sundays, and NO chemicals ! In a few years, we won't have to be concerned about any wildlife at all on The North Fork, cuz those pore doomed critters just can't avoid a vehicle, driven by some possessed gambler, doing sixty-five plus, and it's been going on for quite some time now, so why don't you add that issue to your agenda ?
deer meeting : 8/27/2009
That is precisely why we are having the meeting. Salt lick methods have not proven very sucessful and although we would still like to employ this method. Depts of Health say NO. The problem is the chemicals get put into the food supply since deer hunting is still a part of the diet of many people. The health officials position is that the nominal effectiveness does not outweigh the risks. Further, hunting takes place, legally, on the Nork Fork every day. There hasn't been the carnage you refer to. Regards, Scott Russell
Deer Dilemma : 8/27/2009
What's the dilemma ? Other communities have successfully employed the use of contraceptive salt licks to curtail their deer populations. Deer live about ten years. Start putting out those contraceptive salt licks and in ten years your troubles will be over. If you don't want to wait that long, the use of bow and arrow, or firearms in a high population area will accomplish the same thing if you don't mind knocking off a few of your neighbors in the process.
Deer Dilemma : 8/27/2009
Deer Husbandry. Alaska has it's salmon, and moose meat/ other states have their wild game specialities...why isn't anyone farming the deer and offering it in our local restaurants. EH or South Fork Deer products...sausage/ Prociutto/ etc.....it's ridiculous that we just run them over in our cars..there are SO many...
