MISCELLANEOUS: Guerilla Art Installation in Los Angeles

I read this in the LA Times and could not help but pass it on. I find this to be very clever on a few levels. I would be interested in feedback from readers. Some choice quotes:

"It makes me think it would look better if all this stuff was cleaned up," he said, pointing to the trash scattered across the slope. "It makes me want to clean it up."

"The deer are so perfectly suited for that space that people were almost shocked to see it, or they don't notice," said Greenwood, a New York native working in Los Angeles as a multimedia artist.

Source: LA Times

CONNECTICUT NEWS: Economic Costs of Deer Surprising

Wilton, Connecticut, just tallied the economic impact of their 60+ deer per square mile. It came in at $6.36 million per year (possibly higher), which amounts to $3900 per single family household. Does this seem high? The actual figure might be closer to $9000, depending on what you count and what you leave out.

Wilton’s Director of Environmental Affairs Pat Sesto, who confirmed the calculations, noted that the $6.36 mill figure does not include the cost of education about Lyme disease and sick leave and medical-related losses brought on by tick-borne diseases. A more realistic estimate would probably land the cost per deer at over $4,000. The 2010 study estimates that these damages cost $1,176 in taxpayer money per single-family household in Wilton per year.

Here is a cost breakdown. Damage to landscaping and the environment tops the list, while vehicle damage is at the bottom.

 
Wilton is not what you could call a deer hunting mecca, so they really are not deriving economic benefits. The community is looking into sharpshooting.

 Source: wilton.patch.com