This year's managed deer hunt around Loch Raven Reservoir, which began Sept. 15 and continues until Jan. 31, 2010, will include 800 additional acres compared to last year's hunt, and will include an area accessible to disabled hunters.
A total of 2,400 acres of the reservoir's 8,000 acres, up from last year's 1,600 acres, will be open to bow hunting, according to Kurt Kocher, spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works.
The city department owns and manages the reservoir property outside of Towson.
Bow hunting for deer at Loch Raven Reservoir is allowed from sunrise to sunset until the end of January and will continue seasonally thereafter.
There is no hunting on Sunday.
"I think we made it clear last year that we were going to try it out and, if it worked out, then we would open up the rest of the area that we could," said Kocher.
He said continued hunting in the area is required because the deer population is "still above a number that is sustainable."
Last year, city and county officials said a large deer population was responsible for destroying undergrowth of the forest.
That destruction was leading to a decline in water quality in the reservoir, and also starving deer, they said.
"This wasn't just a public safety and environmental issue," said Don Mohler, a county spokesman. "It was very inhumane for the deer who are starving."
Deer were also involved in a number of car accidents.
Most of the additional acreage is in the northern areas of the reservoir property.
The city also has opened up a portion of the property on Dulaney Valley Road near Jarrettsville Pike that will be accessible to disabled hunters, Kocher said.
"Basically, it's an area where we could make it easily accessible for people in wheelchairs to get in and get out," he said.
The city had received one request for such access from the wife of a hunter who uses a wheelchair, Kocher said.
City and county officials unveiled the planned expansion at a meeting for community association representatives in Towson last week.
Only two people attended and both were in favor of the expanded hunting areas, according to both Koch and Mohler.
Last year was the first year the city opened the reservoir to deer hunters
Areas around the Liberty and Pretty Boy reservoirs have hosted similar hunts, without incident, for nearly four decades, officials said.
The 2,400 acres open to hunting this year do not include some of the southern most areas of the reservoir, which are near the dam as well as large numbers of housing developments and public activity, according to Kocher.
Those areas were later part of a hunt by professional hunters hired by the county.
Kocher said it is unlikely that any other areas of the reservoir will be opened to non-professional deer hunters.
"You never say never, but never," he said.
In all, about 400 deer were taken from the reservoir area between the managed bow hunt and the professional deer hunting, Kocher said.
Source: Explore Baltimore County
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
INDIANA NEWS: Early Hunt Starts in Warsaw
Deer hunting season won’t kick off until October in Indiana – that is, unless you live in Warsaw. The D.N.R. declared the city an urban deer hunting zone because of so many deer there.
Deer hunting season won’t kick off until October in Indiana – that is, unless you live in Warsaw. The D.N.R. declared the city an urban deer hunting zone because of so many deer there.
So, despite a city ordinance that bans hunting within city limits, the city council has granted 62 archers permission to hunt in four zones around town.
The areas are near homes, where residents say they’re fed up with deer.
Robert Gephart puts a lot of time into making his yard look nice for the neighborhood.
"It's frustrating, particularly when you spend the time and energy to have a nice yard," said Gephart, who put up an electronic fence to keep the deer away.
Gephart uses a fence; others will be using bows and arrows.
“This is not a trophy hunt, this is a deer reduction effort,” said Perry Hunter, Warsaw’s police chief.
“I’m hoping that this year might be a banner year for us, that we can reduce the herd quite a bit,” said Hunter.
Source: wndu.com
Deer hunting season won’t kick off until October in Indiana – that is, unless you live in Warsaw. The D.N.R. declared the city an urban deer hunting zone because of so many deer there.
So, despite a city ordinance that bans hunting within city limits, the city council has granted 62 archers permission to hunt in four zones around town.
The areas are near homes, where residents say they’re fed up with deer.
Robert Gephart puts a lot of time into making his yard look nice for the neighborhood.
"It's frustrating, particularly when you spend the time and energy to have a nice yard," said Gephart, who put up an electronic fence to keep the deer away.
Gephart uses a fence; others will be using bows and arrows.
“This is not a trophy hunt, this is a deer reduction effort,” said Perry Hunter, Warsaw’s police chief.
“I’m hoping that this year might be a banner year for us, that we can reduce the herd quite a bit,” said Hunter.
Source: wndu.com
Monday, September 14, 2009
WISCONSIN NEWS: Rate of CWD Spread Accelerates
Deadly chronic wasting disease will continue to spread, threatening the state’s deer population and hunting culture for years to come, a national expert said.
“Just from a conservation standpoint, thinking about the deer herd out there, this is not a good thing,” said Bryan Richards, CWD project leader for the U.S Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
“People may well choose to go hunting elsewhere.”
The rate of the disease in bucks 2½ years old in western Dane County and eastern Iowa County, for example, was 15.5 percent in 2008, up from 10 percent in 2007, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The prevalence in yearling bucks was 6 percent in 2008, double the previous year.
“I think that outcome was anticipated at least by those of us that have spent time looking at disease trends in other areas,” Richards said.
A gradual increase in the rate of the disease is expected to continue in the future, he said.
In Colorado and Wyoming, CWD slowly increased in deer over time, eventually infecting about 30 percent of deer in some herds, said Dennis Heisey, CWD research biologist for the National Wildlife Health Center.
Wisconsin likely will follow that trend, Richards said.
“In Wisconsin, our state numbers are much lower than that,” he said. “But over time, there is no reason to think we won’t get there.”
If that happens, evidence suggests hunters will go elsewhere, threatening the state’s hunting culture as a recreation and boon to the economy, Richards said.
Although research shows the disease is not threatening to humans or livestock, hunters likely would not want to hunt in areas where so many deer have CWD, he said.
And, if hunters leave, the deer herd would explode, Richards said.
Overpopulation could lead to more deer-vehicle collisions, crop damage and suburban encounters, he said.
“Lots of things go wrong when you have too many deer,” Richards said.
CWD was discovered in southern Wisconsin in February 2002. Nearly 152,000 deer have been tested for the disease, with 1,172 testing positive.
The DNR created a CWD management zone to minimize the spread of the disease. The zone includes all or parts of 16 counties in south-central Wisconsin, including Rock, Walworth, Jefferson and Green counties.
The DNR wants to manage the disease through continued population reduction. The deer population in the CWD management zone is lower than in recent years, but remains higher than population goals, according to the DNR.
Hunters in the zone can use rifles instead of shotguns, enjoy a holiday gun season and kill an unlimited number of bucks for every antlerless deer they shoot first.
Officials reviewing CWD management plan
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has proposed a new chronic wasting disease management plan that aims to minimize the number of infected deer and stop the spread of the fatal disease.
The DNR’s previous goal was to try and eradicate the disease, said Dan Jones, the DNR’s CWD assistant biologist.
The strategy changed after seven years of CWD management failed to prevent an increase in the infection rate and an acceptance that the disease is not going away, according to the DNR.
“It’s become increasingly obvious that this was going to be a long-term management effort,” Jones said. “It definitely won’t be something that just goes away overnight.
“Hopefully, we can reduce it.”
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board recently tabled the revised plan and voted to appoint a special committee to review it. The committee is expected to report back to the board at its December meeting.
According to the DNR, the CWD management plan’s key strategies include:
-- Preventing new outbreaks of CWD. Stopping CWD from cropping up in new areas of the state is less expensive and less damaging than fighting the disease after it’s established.
-- Responding to new disease locations. Aggressively responding if CWD is discovered in a new area is the best option for control.
-- Controlling distribution and intensity of CWD. This includes reducing the number of deer in infected areas through hunting and other methods.
-- Increasing public recognition and understanding of CWD risks. Residents must be informed of the latest scientific knowledge and recommendations for managing the disease.
-- Addressing the needs of hunters and residents. This includes deer testing, donating venison to food pantries, disposing of deer carcasses, monitoring for human prion diseases and examining potential risk to livestock.
-- Enhancing the scientific information about CWD with research, funding for university research and collaborating in studies conducted nationally and internationally.
How can I get my deer tested for CWD?
If hunters want their deer tested for chronic wasting disease, several local registration stations can help.
Seven stations in Rock, Walworth and Green counties work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to test deer for CWD.
Mike Foy, DNR wildlife biologist for Rock and Green County, said many local hunters voluntarily test their deer for CWD.
“There are people who do it for health reasons, there are people who do it because they’re interested in the disease, and there are people who do it because we ask them to,” he said.
The World Health Organization advises people to only eat meat from animals that test negative for CWD, Foy said.
Yet research shows the disease is not threatening to humans, said Bryan Richards, CWD project leader for the U.S Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
The bottom line is science is in the beginning stage of knowledge and research on CWD, Foy said.
“Why take a chance?” he said. “Let’s err on the side of caution until we know more.”
When you kill a deer, take it to one of the registration stations helping with CWD testing, said Dan Jones, CWD assistant biologist for the DNR.
The registration station will collect your deer’s head and your contact information, he said. In some cases, lymph nodes can be taken from the deer’s neck for testing.
A number is assigned to the deer, and the head goes to a DNR testing lab, Jones said.
The result of the test is mailed to you on a postcard, he said. If the test is positive, you’ll get a phone call.
Hunters can have their deer tested for free, Jones said, and results will be returned in four to six weeks.
Veterinarians will test for a fee.
Testing is voluntary except in mandatory zones, including the eastern half of Rock County and the western half of Walworth County, he said.
Nearly 152,000 deer in Wisconsin have been tested for CWD, with 1,173 testing positive.
In Rock County, 5,917 deer have been analyzed for CWD, with 70 testing positive.
In Walworth County, 5,428 deer have been tested for CWD, with 54 testing positive.
The DNR plans to sample 8,250 adult deer in 2009.
Source: Janesville Gazette
“Just from a conservation standpoint, thinking about the deer herd out there, this is not a good thing,” said Bryan Richards, CWD project leader for the U.S Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
“People may well choose to go hunting elsewhere.”
The rate of the disease in bucks 2½ years old in western Dane County and eastern Iowa County, for example, was 15.5 percent in 2008, up from 10 percent in 2007, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The prevalence in yearling bucks was 6 percent in 2008, double the previous year.
“I think that outcome was anticipated at least by those of us that have spent time looking at disease trends in other areas,” Richards said.
A gradual increase in the rate of the disease is expected to continue in the future, he said.
In Colorado and Wyoming, CWD slowly increased in deer over time, eventually infecting about 30 percent of deer in some herds, said Dennis Heisey, CWD research biologist for the National Wildlife Health Center.
Wisconsin likely will follow that trend, Richards said.
“In Wisconsin, our state numbers are much lower than that,” he said. “But over time, there is no reason to think we won’t get there.”
If that happens, evidence suggests hunters will go elsewhere, threatening the state’s hunting culture as a recreation and boon to the economy, Richards said.
Although research shows the disease is not threatening to humans or livestock, hunters likely would not want to hunt in areas where so many deer have CWD, he said.
And, if hunters leave, the deer herd would explode, Richards said.
Overpopulation could lead to more deer-vehicle collisions, crop damage and suburban encounters, he said.
“Lots of things go wrong when you have too many deer,” Richards said.
CWD was discovered in southern Wisconsin in February 2002. Nearly 152,000 deer have been tested for the disease, with 1,172 testing positive.
The DNR created a CWD management zone to minimize the spread of the disease. The zone includes all or parts of 16 counties in south-central Wisconsin, including Rock, Walworth, Jefferson and Green counties.
The DNR wants to manage the disease through continued population reduction. The deer population in the CWD management zone is lower than in recent years, but remains higher than population goals, according to the DNR.
Hunters in the zone can use rifles instead of shotguns, enjoy a holiday gun season and kill an unlimited number of bucks for every antlerless deer they shoot first.
Officials reviewing CWD management plan
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has proposed a new chronic wasting disease management plan that aims to minimize the number of infected deer and stop the spread of the fatal disease.
The DNR’s previous goal was to try and eradicate the disease, said Dan Jones, the DNR’s CWD assistant biologist.
The strategy changed after seven years of CWD management failed to prevent an increase in the infection rate and an acceptance that the disease is not going away, according to the DNR.
“It’s become increasingly obvious that this was going to be a long-term management effort,” Jones said. “It definitely won’t be something that just goes away overnight.
“Hopefully, we can reduce it.”
The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board recently tabled the revised plan and voted to appoint a special committee to review it. The committee is expected to report back to the board at its December meeting.
According to the DNR, the CWD management plan’s key strategies include:
-- Preventing new outbreaks of CWD. Stopping CWD from cropping up in new areas of the state is less expensive and less damaging than fighting the disease after it’s established.
-- Responding to new disease locations. Aggressively responding if CWD is discovered in a new area is the best option for control.
-- Controlling distribution and intensity of CWD. This includes reducing the number of deer in infected areas through hunting and other methods.
-- Increasing public recognition and understanding of CWD risks. Residents must be informed of the latest scientific knowledge and recommendations for managing the disease.
-- Addressing the needs of hunters and residents. This includes deer testing, donating venison to food pantries, disposing of deer carcasses, monitoring for human prion diseases and examining potential risk to livestock.
-- Enhancing the scientific information about CWD with research, funding for university research and collaborating in studies conducted nationally and internationally.
How can I get my deer tested for CWD?
If hunters want their deer tested for chronic wasting disease, several local registration stations can help.
Seven stations in Rock, Walworth and Green counties work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to test deer for CWD.
Mike Foy, DNR wildlife biologist for Rock and Green County, said many local hunters voluntarily test their deer for CWD.
“There are people who do it for health reasons, there are people who do it because they’re interested in the disease, and there are people who do it because we ask them to,” he said.
The World Health Organization advises people to only eat meat from animals that test negative for CWD, Foy said.
Yet research shows the disease is not threatening to humans, said Bryan Richards, CWD project leader for the U.S Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison.
The bottom line is science is in the beginning stage of knowledge and research on CWD, Foy said.
“Why take a chance?” he said. “Let’s err on the side of caution until we know more.”
When you kill a deer, take it to one of the registration stations helping with CWD testing, said Dan Jones, CWD assistant biologist for the DNR.
The registration station will collect your deer’s head and your contact information, he said. In some cases, lymph nodes can be taken from the deer’s neck for testing.
A number is assigned to the deer, and the head goes to a DNR testing lab, Jones said.
The result of the test is mailed to you on a postcard, he said. If the test is positive, you’ll get a phone call.
Hunters can have their deer tested for free, Jones said, and results will be returned in four to six weeks.
Veterinarians will test for a fee.
Testing is voluntary except in mandatory zones, including the eastern half of Rock County and the western half of Walworth County, he said.
Nearly 152,000 deer in Wisconsin have been tested for CWD, with 1,173 testing positive.
In Rock County, 5,917 deer have been analyzed for CWD, with 70 testing positive.
In Walworth County, 5,428 deer have been tested for CWD, with 54 testing positive.
The DNR plans to sample 8,250 adult deer in 2009.
Source: Janesville Gazette
Saturday, September 12, 2009
MICHIGAN NEWS: Grand Haven Deer Problem Bigger than Grand Haven
The burgeoning deer population in northwestern Ottawa County is no longer just a Grand Haven problem.
Increasingly, residents and naturalists concerned with the problem are confronting area governmental officials with damage being caused by foraging deer. Most governmental units in this part of the county have discussed the deer situation.
Action plans being considered range from studying the issue further to actively pursuing deer culling this fall.
Grand Haven is planning another deer culling this fall after it hired sharpshooters a year ago to kill 19 deer on Harbor Island and in Lake Forest Cemetery.
And late last month, the Ferrysburg City Council agreed to form a task force to look into the problem of deer damaging the city's fragile dune ecosystem. Area townships, where the problem does not appear to be as bad, are monitoring the deer population issue.
Ferrysburg City Council member Tim Scarpino, who will serve on that city's deer task force along with council members Regina Sjoberg and Dan Ruiter, said he believes area governmental units eventually will have to take a regional approach to the problem.
"We can remove all of the deer in Ferrysburg and they will migrate back," he said. "It's obvious, we're all going to have to work together."
Scarpino said Ferrysburg's interest in the deer problem stems from the increasing number of complaints being received from residents over the damage to plantings and reports by naturalists of erosion and other damage at the city's Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve.
Scarpino, who also serves on the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve Board, said environmental consultant William Martinus recently complied a natural-features inventory of the preserve and reported significant damage from deer.
Martinus said deer slowly have been stripping away plants that grow in the dune understory, the area of ground beneath the forest canopy. In addition, many preserve plants found in great numbers during the 1970s were not found during the most recent inventory. Martinus found little or no regeneration of tree seedlings or saplings, while remaining plants often show few blooms. Deer eat tree saplings and seedlings that are native to Michigan, including maple, oak, beech, cherry, basswood, cedar and butternut.
And these native plants are being replaced by nonnative and invasive species that deer will not eat, including garlic mustard. "There's almost nothing native in the understory," he said. "We don't even know if the seeds of the plants are there any more."
Scarpino envisions the task force reviewing information gathered to date before formulating a response, which could include a regional approach.
"We've been told from representatives that the larger the area you work with, the more options you have," he said. "In my mind, that sets the stage for a regional effort. But that depends on each government."
In Grand Haven, officials once again are seeking a fall and winter deer cull and discussed last week filing an official request with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Sara Schaefer, wildlife supervisor with the DNR, said she does not anticipate any delays surrounding the city's request, which will require specific details as to the number of deer targeted and when and where the hunts will be held.
She said DNR studies have also shown that deer are destroying natural vegetation and are eroding critical dunes.
In Spring Lake Township, there has not been a formal discussion about the deer problem by the township board. Trustee Ron Lindquist believes the issue will be brought up and agrees with Scarpino that there must be a regional approach to the problem.
"I can't speak for the entire board, but I agree there needs to be something done for the region," he said. "Deer don't respect governmental unit boundaries."
Grand Haven Township officials discussed a possible deer population problem last spring and set up a formal system to collect and track property damage complaints involving deer through Geographic Information System maps. Superintendent/Manager Bill Cargo said deer complaints are being placed on a GIS map as they are received.
The township traditionally receives about a dozen deer complaints a year. He said there is no data at present showing the township has exceeded the "healthy" limit of about 600 deer for the township.
Source: MLive
Increasingly, residents and naturalists concerned with the problem are confronting area governmental officials with damage being caused by foraging deer. Most governmental units in this part of the county have discussed the deer situation.
Action plans being considered range from studying the issue further to actively pursuing deer culling this fall.
Grand Haven is planning another deer culling this fall after it hired sharpshooters a year ago to kill 19 deer on Harbor Island and in Lake Forest Cemetery.
And late last month, the Ferrysburg City Council agreed to form a task force to look into the problem of deer damaging the city's fragile dune ecosystem. Area townships, where the problem does not appear to be as bad, are monitoring the deer population issue.
Ferrysburg City Council member Tim Scarpino, who will serve on that city's deer task force along with council members Regina Sjoberg and Dan Ruiter, said he believes area governmental units eventually will have to take a regional approach to the problem.
"We can remove all of the deer in Ferrysburg and they will migrate back," he said. "It's obvious, we're all going to have to work together."
Scarpino said Ferrysburg's interest in the deer problem stems from the increasing number of complaints being received from residents over the damage to plantings and reports by naturalists of erosion and other damage at the city's Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve.
Scarpino, who also serves on the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve Board, said environmental consultant William Martinus recently complied a natural-features inventory of the preserve and reported significant damage from deer.
Martinus said deer slowly have been stripping away plants that grow in the dune understory, the area of ground beneath the forest canopy. In addition, many preserve plants found in great numbers during the 1970s were not found during the most recent inventory. Martinus found little or no regeneration of tree seedlings or saplings, while remaining plants often show few blooms. Deer eat tree saplings and seedlings that are native to Michigan, including maple, oak, beech, cherry, basswood, cedar and butternut.
And these native plants are being replaced by nonnative and invasive species that deer will not eat, including garlic mustard. "There's almost nothing native in the understory," he said. "We don't even know if the seeds of the plants are there any more."
Scarpino envisions the task force reviewing information gathered to date before formulating a response, which could include a regional approach.
"We've been told from representatives that the larger the area you work with, the more options you have," he said. "In my mind, that sets the stage for a regional effort. But that depends on each government."
In Grand Haven, officials once again are seeking a fall and winter deer cull and discussed last week filing an official request with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Sara Schaefer, wildlife supervisor with the DNR, said she does not anticipate any delays surrounding the city's request, which will require specific details as to the number of deer targeted and when and where the hunts will be held.
She said DNR studies have also shown that deer are destroying natural vegetation and are eroding critical dunes.
In Spring Lake Township, there has not been a formal discussion about the deer problem by the township board. Trustee Ron Lindquist believes the issue will be brought up and agrees with Scarpino that there must be a regional approach to the problem.
"I can't speak for the entire board, but I agree there needs to be something done for the region," he said. "Deer don't respect governmental unit boundaries."
Grand Haven Township officials discussed a possible deer population problem last spring and set up a formal system to collect and track property damage complaints involving deer through Geographic Information System maps. Superintendent/Manager Bill Cargo said deer complaints are being placed on a GIS map as they are received.
The township traditionally receives about a dozen deer complaints a year. He said there is no data at present showing the township has exceeded the "healthy" limit of about 600 deer for the township.
Source: MLive
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
OHIO NEWS: Oxford to Establish Deer Harvesting Pilot Program
More than a year after first trying to tackle Oxford’s deer surplus, the city is considering the establishment of a deer harvesting pilot program for later this fall.
City Manager Doug Elliott said the tentative plan is to send 15 local hunters onto specific city-owned properties to eliminate up to two antlerless deer each. Hunters will be able to use either a bow and arrow or crossbow, but will be required to hunt from tree stands as an added safety measure.
While 30 deer might seem like a small drop in a rather large bucket, Elliott said his goal is to restore a healthy balance of deer to the area over the span of several years rather than eliminate as many as possible in one shot.
“I don’t think it will have much of an impact in the first year,” Elliott said. “I think after two or three years residents will hopefully start to notice that the deer aren’t as frequently in their backyards.”
With the state deer population reportedly surging from 17,000 in 1970 to more than 700,000 in 2005, Elliott said Oxford citizens have been voicing concern over the increasing number of deer sightings within city limits. Elliott said recent years have seen Butler County ranking among the top 10 counties as it relates to deer-vehicle collisions. His hope is to not only help lower that number, but also reduce damage to vegetation and prevent the potential spread of Lyme disease.
“We feel like we need to do something to restore a more natural balance,” he said. “We don’t plan to eliminate all of the whitetail deer in town. Our goal here is to put forth this pilot program and see how it works, what kind of reception we get from the public and how successful we are.”
City-approved hunters will be able to harvest as many as two antlerless deer, but Elliott said the first deer taken by every participant will be donated to the Community Meal Center in Hamilton. Processing fees for the donated deer will be covered through a grant secured by the Community Meal Center, with Schaefer’s Deer Processing in Trenton handling the donated meat.
Costs for the program will be minimal, with Elliott predicting less than $1,000 needed to cover permits for the donated deer.
One area resident who doesn’t seem thrilled with the idea is Jeff MacDonald, owner of Ace Hardware. MacDonald first broached the concept of thinning the local deer herd to City Council members last summer, but said he isn’t convinced the proposed program will put an end to deer-related problems.
“I don’t think hunting in the Oxford acreage is going to be effective, but at least it’ll be an experiment,” MacDonald said. “We’ve got to get in town and create a safe, acceptable, citizen-approved way to control deer. And that’s a goal that I’m more than willing to work for.”
Source: Oxford Press
City Manager Doug Elliott said the tentative plan is to send 15 local hunters onto specific city-owned properties to eliminate up to two antlerless deer each. Hunters will be able to use either a bow and arrow or crossbow, but will be required to hunt from tree stands as an added safety measure.
While 30 deer might seem like a small drop in a rather large bucket, Elliott said his goal is to restore a healthy balance of deer to the area over the span of several years rather than eliminate as many as possible in one shot.
“I don’t think it will have much of an impact in the first year,” Elliott said. “I think after two or three years residents will hopefully start to notice that the deer aren’t as frequently in their backyards.”
With the state deer population reportedly surging from 17,000 in 1970 to more than 700,000 in 2005, Elliott said Oxford citizens have been voicing concern over the increasing number of deer sightings within city limits. Elliott said recent years have seen Butler County ranking among the top 10 counties as it relates to deer-vehicle collisions. His hope is to not only help lower that number, but also reduce damage to vegetation and prevent the potential spread of Lyme disease.
“We feel like we need to do something to restore a more natural balance,” he said. “We don’t plan to eliminate all of the whitetail deer in town. Our goal here is to put forth this pilot program and see how it works, what kind of reception we get from the public and how successful we are.”
City-approved hunters will be able to harvest as many as two antlerless deer, but Elliott said the first deer taken by every participant will be donated to the Community Meal Center in Hamilton. Processing fees for the donated deer will be covered through a grant secured by the Community Meal Center, with Schaefer’s Deer Processing in Trenton handling the donated meat.
Costs for the program will be minimal, with Elliott predicting less than $1,000 needed to cover permits for the donated deer.
One area resident who doesn’t seem thrilled with the idea is Jeff MacDonald, owner of Ace Hardware. MacDonald first broached the concept of thinning the local deer herd to City Council members last summer, but said he isn’t convinced the proposed program will put an end to deer-related problems.
“I don’t think hunting in the Oxford acreage is going to be effective, but at least it’ll be an experiment,” MacDonald said. “We’ve got to get in town and create a safe, acceptable, citizen-approved way to control deer. And that’s a goal that I’m more than willing to work for.”
Source: Oxford Press
MICHIGAN NEWS: Grand Haven Ponders More Culling
Grand Haven officials will hold a conference call with representatives from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources today to discuss details of proposed deer culls this fall and winter.
City officials have made a verbal request with the DNR to resume hunts using certified sharpshooters to thin the urban deer population.
Sara Schaefer, a wildlife supervisor for the DNR, said she told city officials to file an official request in writing. That request would include specific details, such as how many deer would be targeted and where the hunts would be held.
Schaefer said the conference call will give the city direction in applying for the permit. She said the city's application will be approved because the DNR believes Ottawa County's deer population has grown beyond acceptable levels.
She said investigations into several habitats in Grand Haven have proven deer are destroying natural vegetation -- such as the flowering trillium -- while causing erosion to critical dunes.
The areas of the city with the most deer are near Lake Forest Cemetery and Harbor Island -- both on the city's west side. Deer also have been spotted on the city's east side.
Schaefer said city officials have indicated they would like to resume culls as early as this month.
Supporters of city-authorized sharpshooters thinning the herd say deer populations have escalated to unhealthy levels. They say deer are destroying private property, especially gardens and expensive landscaping. They add that deer have moved closer to the city center, causing public safety threats to drivers and residents.
Others fear the deer will bring disease-carrying ticks into the city, making it a public health issue as well.
"As far as the DNR is concerned, this is not about flowers in people's yards. This is about protecting natural resources -- especially the critical dunes, forest areas and green space," Schaefer said.
Last fall, sharpshooters killed 19 deer on Harbor Island and in Lake Forest Cemetery during separate hunts. The city's public safety department closed both public areas during the hunts.
Still, opponents say the hunts aren't safe because of nearby residential neighborhoods. In an attempt to save the deer during last year's hunt at the cemetery, several residents showed up banging pots and pans and honking car horns.
Source: MLive
City officials have made a verbal request with the DNR to resume hunts using certified sharpshooters to thin the urban deer population.
Sara Schaefer, a wildlife supervisor for the DNR, said she told city officials to file an official request in writing. That request would include specific details, such as how many deer would be targeted and where the hunts would be held.
Schaefer said the conference call will give the city direction in applying for the permit. She said the city's application will be approved because the DNR believes Ottawa County's deer population has grown beyond acceptable levels.
She said investigations into several habitats in Grand Haven have proven deer are destroying natural vegetation -- such as the flowering trillium -- while causing erosion to critical dunes.
The areas of the city with the most deer are near Lake Forest Cemetery and Harbor Island -- both on the city's west side. Deer also have been spotted on the city's east side.
Schaefer said city officials have indicated they would like to resume culls as early as this month.
Supporters of city-authorized sharpshooters thinning the herd say deer populations have escalated to unhealthy levels. They say deer are destroying private property, especially gardens and expensive landscaping. They add that deer have moved closer to the city center, causing public safety threats to drivers and residents.
Others fear the deer will bring disease-carrying ticks into the city, making it a public health issue as well.
"As far as the DNR is concerned, this is not about flowers in people's yards. This is about protecting natural resources -- especially the critical dunes, forest areas and green space," Schaefer said.
Last fall, sharpshooters killed 19 deer on Harbor Island and in Lake Forest Cemetery during separate hunts. The city's public safety department closed both public areas during the hunts.
Still, opponents say the hunts aren't safe because of nearby residential neighborhoods. In an attempt to save the deer during last year's hunt at the cemetery, several residents showed up banging pots and pans and honking car horns.
Source: MLive
VIRGINIA NEWS: Municipal Bow Hunt Debated
Tired of the damage and disease associated with an exploding white-tailed deer population, a Leesburg neighborhood will begin allowing bow hunting of deer when hunting season begins this month.
Homeowners in Beacon Hill, a sprawling neighborhood of more than 200 houses, have long complained of deer trampling manicured lawns, eating flowers and ruining community landscaping. They also have expressed concern about the spread of deer ticks that carry Lyme disease.
The board of directors of the Beacon Hill homeowners association voted Monday to permit bow hunting of deer in four wooded common areas during the legal hunting season, from Sept. 5 to Nov. 13.
But a neighboring equestrian center, which shares a trail and common space with Beacon Hill, has expressed concerns about safety. The owners and clients of Clairvaux at Beacon Hill said they fear that horses could be mistaken for deer.
"I envision little girls on little ponies getting shot at," said Terri Young, the owner of Clairvaux. "Or what happens if a hunter misses and there is a deer running around with [an arrow] stuck in it to horrify the kids?"
Beacon Hill is one of a number of Washington area communities that permit bow hunting to control the growing deer population. Montgomery County, for instance, last year relaxed its rules on bow and shotgun hunting.
Beacon Hill is negotiating with Suburban Whitetail Management of Northern Virginia, professional bow hunters who have worked for other communities and private landowners, said Pia Trigiani, the association's attorney. The company's hunters would shoot deer from elevated tree stands, she said.
The tree stands would be at least 150 feet away from any private property not participating in the program and 30 yards from the shared equestrian trail. Hunting would be limited to the four areas, where deer tend to gather, Trigiani said.
In looking at the four areas, the board has considered safety, the proximity to other lots and "where the thinning would be most productive," she said.
Trigiani noted that the association held a community-wide meeting in March at which professional bow hunters briefed residents. Since then, she said, the board has listened to supporters and opponents of bow hunting and has carefully considered the issue.
"This is a last resort for the association," Trigiani said. "It's a measured response. It's not a knee-jerk reaction."
The vast majority of Beacon Hill homeowners support bow hunting of deer. But residents who oppose it said the community could be sued if a hunter accidentally hits a person or a horse.
"We're just concerned about the liability . . . and the safety of the kids, the horses and anybody else," said Lisa Thompson, a Beacon Hill homeowner and mother of two teenage girls who ride horses that are boarded at the equestrian center.
Young, the owner of the equestrian center, said she is concerned about the effect bow hunting will have on her business. "I don't know what our options are at that point," she said. "I have already spoken to our attorney about it."
Trigiani said the board weighed the risks associated with bow hunting on residential land and spoke with three Fairfax County homeowners associations that permit bow hunting.
"They have to balance all of the sides of the issue and come up with the best decisions," Trigiani said. "I think this board has done that, and I think it will stand judicial scrutiny."
Beacon Hill homeowner Stephen Cloud, who supports bow hunting of deer, said that he has tried spraying his flowers and plants with deer-repellant chemicals but that the effectiveness doesn't last.
"I don't plant many flowers anymore because [the deer] eat them all," he said.
Source: Washington Post
Homeowners in Beacon Hill, a sprawling neighborhood of more than 200 houses, have long complained of deer trampling manicured lawns, eating flowers and ruining community landscaping. They also have expressed concern about the spread of deer ticks that carry Lyme disease.
The board of directors of the Beacon Hill homeowners association voted Monday to permit bow hunting of deer in four wooded common areas during the legal hunting season, from Sept. 5 to Nov. 13.
But a neighboring equestrian center, which shares a trail and common space with Beacon Hill, has expressed concerns about safety. The owners and clients of Clairvaux at Beacon Hill said they fear that horses could be mistaken for deer.
"I envision little girls on little ponies getting shot at," said Terri Young, the owner of Clairvaux. "Or what happens if a hunter misses and there is a deer running around with [an arrow] stuck in it to horrify the kids?"
Beacon Hill is one of a number of Washington area communities that permit bow hunting to control the growing deer population. Montgomery County, for instance, last year relaxed its rules on bow and shotgun hunting.
Beacon Hill is negotiating with Suburban Whitetail Management of Northern Virginia, professional bow hunters who have worked for other communities and private landowners, said Pia Trigiani, the association's attorney. The company's hunters would shoot deer from elevated tree stands, she said.
The tree stands would be at least 150 feet away from any private property not participating in the program and 30 yards from the shared equestrian trail. Hunting would be limited to the four areas, where deer tend to gather, Trigiani said.
In looking at the four areas, the board has considered safety, the proximity to other lots and "where the thinning would be most productive," she said.
Trigiani noted that the association held a community-wide meeting in March at which professional bow hunters briefed residents. Since then, she said, the board has listened to supporters and opponents of bow hunting and has carefully considered the issue.
"This is a last resort for the association," Trigiani said. "It's a measured response. It's not a knee-jerk reaction."
The vast majority of Beacon Hill homeowners support bow hunting of deer. But residents who oppose it said the community could be sued if a hunter accidentally hits a person or a horse.
"We're just concerned about the liability . . . and the safety of the kids, the horses and anybody else," said Lisa Thompson, a Beacon Hill homeowner and mother of two teenage girls who ride horses that are boarded at the equestrian center.
Young, the owner of the equestrian center, said she is concerned about the effect bow hunting will have on her business. "I don't know what our options are at that point," she said. "I have already spoken to our attorney about it."
Trigiani said the board weighed the risks associated with bow hunting on residential land and spoke with three Fairfax County homeowners associations that permit bow hunting.
"They have to balance all of the sides of the issue and come up with the best decisions," Trigiani said. "I think this board has done that, and I think it will stand judicial scrutiny."
Beacon Hill homeowner Stephen Cloud, who supports bow hunting of deer, said that he has tried spraying his flowers and plants with deer-repellant chemicals but that the effectiveness doesn't last.
"I don't plant many flowers anymore because [the deer] eat them all," he said.
Source: Washington Post
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
RESEARCH NEWS: Four-Posters Reduce Numbers of Lyme-Carrying Ticks 71%
A device called the "4-poster" Deer Treatment Bait Station, developed and patented by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), was highly effective at reducing the number of ticks infected with the Lyme disease bacterium in a six-year U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study in five Northeastern states—Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island—where the disease is endemic.
In the $2.1 million USDA Northeast Areawide Tick Control Project, investigators noted a 71 percent overall reduction in the number of ticks infected with the Lyme disease bacterium during summer months when most people get the disease. If the 4-poster is used in areas where the disease is endemic, this should translate to a corresponding 71 percent decrease in Lyme disease cases, according to Durland Fish, a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and principal investigator for the project. The effectiveness of the 4-poster ranged from 60 to 82 percent among the seven individual 2-square-mile study sites.
The device is a bin that contains corn, with insecticide-laden paint rollers mounted at the bin's corners. When a deer-the primary carrier of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which carries the Lyme disease bacterium—inserts its muzzle into the bin to feed, it must rub its head, neck and ears against the insecticide-treated rollers. When the deer subsequently grooms itself, the insecticide is spread enough to protect the animal's entire body.
Developed by ARS scientists at the agency's Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, the 4-poster's efficacy could be boosted to more than 90 percent by using newer, more effective insecticides that were not available at the start of the USDA study, according to J. Mathews Pound, an entomologist at the Kerrville laboratory and a co-investigator on the study.
The results of the study have been published in a series of 11 papers in the August 2009 issue of the medical journal Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases. The articles are available free online.
Source: USDA-ARS
In the $2.1 million USDA Northeast Areawide Tick Control Project, investigators noted a 71 percent overall reduction in the number of ticks infected with the Lyme disease bacterium during summer months when most people get the disease. If the 4-poster is used in areas where the disease is endemic, this should translate to a corresponding 71 percent decrease in Lyme disease cases, according to Durland Fish, a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and principal investigator for the project. The effectiveness of the 4-poster ranged from 60 to 82 percent among the seven individual 2-square-mile study sites.
The device is a bin that contains corn, with insecticide-laden paint rollers mounted at the bin's corners. When a deer-the primary carrier of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which carries the Lyme disease bacterium—inserts its muzzle into the bin to feed, it must rub its head, neck and ears against the insecticide-treated rollers. When the deer subsequently grooms itself, the insecticide is spread enough to protect the animal's entire body.
Developed by ARS scientists at the agency's Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, the 4-poster's efficacy could be boosted to more than 90 percent by using newer, more effective insecticides that were not available at the start of the USDA study, according to J. Mathews Pound, an entomologist at the Kerrville laboratory and a co-investigator on the study.
The results of the study have been published in a series of 11 papers in the August 2009 issue of the medical journal Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases. The articles are available free online.
Source: USDA-ARS
MICHIGAN NEWS: Deer Populations Grow, Native Plants Disappear Garlic Mustard Invades Dune Ecosystem
A burgeoning deer population is threatening the delicate ecosystem of a protected, 115-acre dunes area in southwestern Michigan.
The city of Ferrysburg has formed an ad-hoc committee to look into the problem. Councilman Tim Scarpino, a committee member, said he wants all options -- including culling the herd -- left on the table.
"The less that is done now, the more that will have to be done later," he said.
There appear to be more deer than ever roaming the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve, which is in the neighboring city of Grand Haven but owned by Ferrysburg. The animals are feasting on several rare, native plants and their paths are eroding the landscape of the dunes, Scarpino said.
Deer have been slowly stripping the plants that grow in the dunes' understory, the area of ground beneath its forest canopy, said William Martinus, an environmental consultant who has compiled natural-features inventories for the preserve.
Many plants found there in great numbers during the 1970s were not seen during a recent search, Martinus said. There is little to no regeneration of tree seedlings or saplings, while remaining plants often show few blooms.
"There's almost nothing native in the understory," he told the Grand Haven Tribune for a story published Monday. "We don't even know if the seeds of the plants are there anymore."
The deer eat tree saplings and seedlings that are native to Michigan, including maple, oak, beech, cherry, basswood, cedar and butternut, he said.
The native plants are being replaced by nonnative and often invasive species that the deer won't eat. Species that are moving in include garlic mustard, a plant that stifles tree growth, Martinus said.
Reducing the herd is one way to help native plants return to the preserve, he said.
There are several ways to do shrink deer herds but the most effective can be some combination of methods that include fencing, scent repellents, scare tactics and a controlled hunt, said Nik Kalejs, a wildlife habitat biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Source: Chicago Tribune
The city of Ferrysburg has formed an ad-hoc committee to look into the problem. Councilman Tim Scarpino, a committee member, said he wants all options -- including culling the herd -- left on the table.
"The less that is done now, the more that will have to be done later," he said.
There appear to be more deer than ever roaming the Kitchel-Lindquist Dunes Preserve, which is in the neighboring city of Grand Haven but owned by Ferrysburg. The animals are feasting on several rare, native plants and their paths are eroding the landscape of the dunes, Scarpino said.
Deer have been slowly stripping the plants that grow in the dunes' understory, the area of ground beneath its forest canopy, said William Martinus, an environmental consultant who has compiled natural-features inventories for the preserve.
Many plants found there in great numbers during the 1970s were not seen during a recent search, Martinus said. There is little to no regeneration of tree seedlings or saplings, while remaining plants often show few blooms.
"There's almost nothing native in the understory," he told the Grand Haven Tribune for a story published Monday. "We don't even know if the seeds of the plants are there anymore."
The deer eat tree saplings and seedlings that are native to Michigan, including maple, oak, beech, cherry, basswood, cedar and butternut, he said.
The native plants are being replaced by nonnative and often invasive species that the deer won't eat. Species that are moving in include garlic mustard, a plant that stifles tree growth, Martinus said.
Reducing the herd is one way to help native plants return to the preserve, he said.
There are several ways to do shrink deer herds but the most effective can be some combination of methods that include fencing, scent repellents, scare tactics and a controlled hunt, said Nik Kalejs, a wildlife habitat biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Source: Chicago Tribune
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Newark Considers Urban Deer Cull
Newark soon might follow in Granville and Heath's footsteps and establish a program to eliminate deer within the city.
Monday, Newark City Council's Service Committee listened to a presentation by Granville Clerk of Council Mollie Prasher to stimulate ideas.
"It has become an issue not just of inconvenience but of appropriate stewardship. My personal opinion is we are being good stewards of the earth by addressing this issue," Prasher said referring to the overpopulation of deer because of a lack of a natural predator and the resulting possibility of disease.
The council has heard complaints from Newark residents for several years about the number of deer and the resulting damage to property and car crashes. Many council members have wanted to approve bowhunting within the city but have been met with resistance from residents who don't want hunting near their home. The discussion never has moved into a solid proposal, however.
No specifics were discussed Monday, but Newark residents have been encouraged to add their name to a list if they are willing to allow hunting on their property.
Granville will enter its third season permitting bowhunting within the city this year. Last year, 95 deer were recorded as killed as a result of the program, 20 of which were shot on a single property.
One of the keys, Prasher said, is the hunters and property owners always have contact with one another before the hunter enters a property. Many owners ask for specific hunters.
"You have to know who is coming on to your property with a weapon," Prasher said.
Before hunters are approved, they must pass a background check and pass a proficiency test.
Prasher said she has developed zones, made up of groups of property owners, and each hunter is assigned to a zone for 13 days at a time. Hunters are provided with a parking permit, an aerial map of the area, a plat map and a card to identify themselves.
"I have had no residents call in to complain," Prasher said. "I don't think everyone (in Granville) is happy we are hunting, but they are tolerating it."
Granville also pays for the meat to be processed and donates any the hunter does not wish to keep.
Several Newark residents also supported action because of the property damage they had experienced or because of the effects on the deer of overpopulation.
One resident said he has seen as many as 23 deer in his yard at one time.
Source: Newark Advocate
Monday, Newark City Council's Service Committee listened to a presentation by Granville Clerk of Council Mollie Prasher to stimulate ideas.
"It has become an issue not just of inconvenience but of appropriate stewardship. My personal opinion is we are being good stewards of the earth by addressing this issue," Prasher said referring to the overpopulation of deer because of a lack of a natural predator and the resulting possibility of disease.
The council has heard complaints from Newark residents for several years about the number of deer and the resulting damage to property and car crashes. Many council members have wanted to approve bowhunting within the city but have been met with resistance from residents who don't want hunting near their home. The discussion never has moved into a solid proposal, however.
No specifics were discussed Monday, but Newark residents have been encouraged to add their name to a list if they are willing to allow hunting on their property.
Granville will enter its third season permitting bowhunting within the city this year. Last year, 95 deer were recorded as killed as a result of the program, 20 of which were shot on a single property.
One of the keys, Prasher said, is the hunters and property owners always have contact with one another before the hunter enters a property. Many owners ask for specific hunters.
"You have to know who is coming on to your property with a weapon," Prasher said.
Before hunters are approved, they must pass a background check and pass a proficiency test.
Prasher said she has developed zones, made up of groups of property owners, and each hunter is assigned to a zone for 13 days at a time. Hunters are provided with a parking permit, an aerial map of the area, a plat map and a card to identify themselves.
"I have had no residents call in to complain," Prasher said. "I don't think everyone (in Granville) is happy we are hunting, but they are tolerating it."
Granville also pays for the meat to be processed and donates any the hunter does not wish to keep.
Several Newark residents also supported action because of the property damage they had experienced or because of the effects on the deer of overpopulation.
One resident said he has seen as many as 23 deer in his yard at one time.
Source: Newark Advocate
VIRGINIA NEWS: Seasonal Deer Feeding Ban Begins
Starting today, it is illegal to feed deer in Virginia, according to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The annual prohibition, part of a 2006 regulation, is part of an effort to keep Virginia's deer population in check. The no-feeding rule will remain in place through the first Saturday in January, according to the department.
The regulation does not restrict the planting of crops, wildlife food plots or backyard and schoolyard habitats. Rather, it is aimed at the artificial feeding of deer, which can unnaturally increase the deer population.
Deer will take advantage of birdfeeders and will eat spilled seed. Individuals who inadvertently feed deer through their birdfeeders may be asked to temporarily take their feeders down, according to a department release.
An overabundance of deer can lead to damage to natural habitats and inappropriate "taming" of wildlife. It also can lead to increased human-deer conflicts, including vehicle collisions and disease transmission, such as tuberculosis and other deer ailments.
Many people feed deer because they believe it will keep them from starving, but deer die-offs due to starvation are practically nonexistent in Virginia, said Matt Knox and Nelson Lafon, VDGIF Deer Project coordinators, in a statement.
"We do not need more deer in Virginia," Lafon said. "In fact, we need fewer deer in many parts of the state."
Harrisonburg has used police snipers to thin the city's deer herd. Recently, city officials said they are considering allowing archery on a limited basis to control the deer population.
Based on a 2007 survey, most Virginians would like to see deer populations decrease through much of the state, the release said.
Source: Rocktown Weekly
The annual prohibition, part of a 2006 regulation, is part of an effort to keep Virginia's deer population in check. The no-feeding rule will remain in place through the first Saturday in January, according to the department.
The regulation does not restrict the planting of crops, wildlife food plots or backyard and schoolyard habitats. Rather, it is aimed at the artificial feeding of deer, which can unnaturally increase the deer population.
Deer will take advantage of birdfeeders and will eat spilled seed. Individuals who inadvertently feed deer through their birdfeeders may be asked to temporarily take their feeders down, according to a department release.
An overabundance of deer can lead to damage to natural habitats and inappropriate "taming" of wildlife. It also can lead to increased human-deer conflicts, including vehicle collisions and disease transmission, such as tuberculosis and other deer ailments.
Many people feed deer because they believe it will keep them from starving, but deer die-offs due to starvation are practically nonexistent in Virginia, said Matt Knox and Nelson Lafon, VDGIF Deer Project coordinators, in a statement.
"We do not need more deer in Virginia," Lafon said. "In fact, we need fewer deer in many parts of the state."
Harrisonburg has used police snipers to thin the city's deer herd. Recently, city officials said they are considering allowing archery on a limited basis to control the deer population.
Based on a 2007 survey, most Virginians would like to see deer populations decrease through much of the state, the release said.
Source: Rocktown Weekly
Monday, August 31, 2009
MICHIGAN NEWS: Bill Introduced to Expand Damage Shooting Permits
One of Michigan’s top industries is taking a hit from a growing problem, and state Rep. John Proos is working to address the issue.
Proos has introduced House Bill 5309 to allow farmers to address the increasing deer population and take more nuisance deer that disrupt and destroy crops.
“Michigan farmers are facing unprecedented struggles in this rough economy, and this simple preventative measure will go a long way in protecting crops,” said Proos, R-St. Joseph. “This is both a local issue and a statewide economic issue, and here is a simple fix for a growing problem.”
Proos said that current law still leaves crops largely unprotected. Under current law, farmers are able to obtain a deer damage shooting permit as a result of nursery or crop loss, which allows them to take nuisance deer responsible for damaging crops.
Proos’ legislation increases the number of authorized shooters that may be included under a deer damage shooting permit from three to 15.
Source: WLKM
Proos has introduced House Bill 5309 to allow farmers to address the increasing deer population and take more nuisance deer that disrupt and destroy crops.
“Michigan farmers are facing unprecedented struggles in this rough economy, and this simple preventative measure will go a long way in protecting crops,” said Proos, R-St. Joseph. “This is both a local issue and a statewide economic issue, and here is a simple fix for a growing problem.”
Proos said that current law still leaves crops largely unprotected. Under current law, farmers are able to obtain a deer damage shooting permit as a result of nursery or crop loss, which allows them to take nuisance deer responsible for damaging crops.
Proos’ legislation increases the number of authorized shooters that may be included under a deer damage shooting permit from three to 15.
Source: WLKM
WASHINGTON DC NEWS: Hunt in Rock Creek National Park Considered
The National Park Service is eyeing the use of sharpshooters and other lethal action as the most effective means to quickly cull the growing white-tail deer population in Rock Creek Park.
Hundreds of deer -- roughly 82 per square mile -- roam the 2,900-acre park, the park service reports in a 400-page environmental impact statement, which sets out the lethal and nonlethal options for controlling deer numbers. The herd often wanders off the reservation, onto neighboring roads, into residents' yards and occasionally through plate glass windows.
The park service is lobbying for immediate action as white-tail deer are fast becoming the dominant force in the park's ecosystem. The deer are destroying native vegetation, competing with other wildlife for limited food resources, and increasingly are posing a hazard to drivers.
The EIS, the subject of a scheduled public meeting Wednesday, offers four alternatives for reducing the deer population:
» A do-nothing option
» Surgical and chemical sterilization and "large fenced areas"
» Sharpshooters and euthanization
» A combination of the latter two choices
Killing deer via sharpshooting and euthanasia would allow the forest to regenerate, "improving habitat and reducing impacts of overbrowsing," according to the park service document. The hunts, performed primarily at night during late fall and winter months, would entail "trained sharpshooters" using rifles or bow and arrow.
The meat, the NPS said, would be donated to local charitable organizations for consumption "to the maximum extent possible."
Opinions vary on controlled hunts as a viable practice inside the District.
Though killing deer is a "heart wrenching decision," an overpopulation of any single species "wreaks havoc in so many ways," said Jane Solomon, a conservation biologist who lives just west of Rock Creek Park.
"It's unpopular," said Solomon, a Forest Hills advisory neighborhood commissioner. "They're beautiful animals. We all love them, but the population's too large. I wouldn't be opposed to either some form of euthanization or lethal means."
Deer are a "nuisance and vexatious," said D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson. But sterilization, he said, is the best practice.
"It's not hard to find them to do the sterilization," Mendelson said. "It's certainly a more humane approach and far less controversial than sharpshooting."
The park service "is looking to hunt" rather than investigating options like reflectors, flashing lights, controlled vegetation and devices that scare deer away from roads and residences, said Scott Giacoppo, chief programs officer with the Washington Humane Society. Deer kills, he said, are "proven not to work."
"I personally wouldn't get involved in something like that," said Charles Rogers, president of the Woodbridge-based National Sportsman Association. "It's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel."
Source: Washington Examiner
Hundreds of deer -- roughly 82 per square mile -- roam the 2,900-acre park, the park service reports in a 400-page environmental impact statement, which sets out the lethal and nonlethal options for controlling deer numbers. The herd often wanders off the reservation, onto neighboring roads, into residents' yards and occasionally through plate glass windows.
The park service is lobbying for immediate action as white-tail deer are fast becoming the dominant force in the park's ecosystem. The deer are destroying native vegetation, competing with other wildlife for limited food resources, and increasingly are posing a hazard to drivers.
The EIS, the subject of a scheduled public meeting Wednesday, offers four alternatives for reducing the deer population:
» A do-nothing option
» Surgical and chemical sterilization and "large fenced areas"
» Sharpshooters and euthanization
» A combination of the latter two choices
Killing deer via sharpshooting and euthanasia would allow the forest to regenerate, "improving habitat and reducing impacts of overbrowsing," according to the park service document. The hunts, performed primarily at night during late fall and winter months, would entail "trained sharpshooters" using rifles or bow and arrow.
The meat, the NPS said, would be donated to local charitable organizations for consumption "to the maximum extent possible."
Opinions vary on controlled hunts as a viable practice inside the District.
Though killing deer is a "heart wrenching decision," an overpopulation of any single species "wreaks havoc in so many ways," said Jane Solomon, a conservation biologist who lives just west of Rock Creek Park.
"It's unpopular," said Solomon, a Forest Hills advisory neighborhood commissioner. "They're beautiful animals. We all love them, but the population's too large. I wouldn't be opposed to either some form of euthanization or lethal means."
Deer are a "nuisance and vexatious," said D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson. But sterilization, he said, is the best practice.
"It's not hard to find them to do the sterilization," Mendelson said. "It's certainly a more humane approach and far less controversial than sharpshooting."
The park service "is looking to hunt" rather than investigating options like reflectors, flashing lights, controlled vegetation and devices that scare deer away from roads and residences, said Scott Giacoppo, chief programs officer with the Washington Humane Society. Deer kills, he said, are "proven not to work."
"I personally wouldn't get involved in something like that," said Charles Rogers, president of the Woodbridge-based National Sportsman Association. "It's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel."
Source: Washington Examiner
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
NEW YORK NEWS: High Price Tag for Urban Deer Management
The draft deer plan adopted by the village of Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees could cost $470,000 in the first three years and almost $1 million over 10 years.
"It's a very sobering number, but it appears as though this would be what it costs," Mayor Jim Gilmore said.
Late Monday night, the board adopted a draft deer plan that would sterilize 30-60 does and cull or kill the rest, estimated to be 100 to 200 other deer.
Trustee David Donner was the only vote against. Donner said he supported culling but not sterilization.
"Horses and deer are creatures that panic. To trap and hold them for hours or days in cages or nets is inhumane. To subject them to an unnatural and unnecessary surgery is also inhumane," he said. "I ask for a swift and honorable death for the deer, just as I do for horses."
Gilmore and the other five trustees voted in favor of the draft plan, arguing it would be the fastest and most effective way to reduce the village's deer population. Sterilization is intended to reduce in-migration by other deer when village deer are killed, according to the village's plan.
The proposal was submitted by the village's deer-remediation advisory committee in June. Since that time, the village has held two regular evening meetings, during which the majority of speakers -- who were from Cayuga Heights, Tompkins County and central New York -- have spoken against killing the deer.
Deer were the major issue in both of the last village elections. The village had not seen a contested election for 22 years prior to the two in the last two years.
In the March elections for three trustee positions, the Community Party candidates -- who said they would be willing to consider culling -- won with 414, 405 and 380 votes. The Open Government candidates -- who said they opposed culling at this time -- gained 170, 166 and 153 votes. Voter turnout was 28 percent, according to the Board of Elections.
Trustee Robert Andolina created the financial forecast based on the deer committee's recommendations. He noted that unlike other municipalities that control the deer population through hunting, the village will not get any hunting permit revenue to offset costs.
"I think we have to think seriously about the price tag here," Andolina said.
Village Treasurer Jeffrey Silber said the entire village budget for 2010 totals $2.07 million, meaning the average $100,000 per year on deer control would be equivalent to a 5 percent tax levy increase.
Trustee Bea Szekely said the board could pare down its plan before adopting a final version or actually allocating any money, but that the board should push hard to reduce the number of deer.
"I think we had a strong mandate from the recent election to remediate the deer herd," she said.
The board is undertaking a state-mandated environmental review of the proposed plan. State law does not require a public hearing in conjunction with such environmental reviews, but it's common for municipalities to have them. The village board chose to wait until its next meeting to decide whether to hold a public hearing on the proposal.
The board's next meetings are scheduled for noon Sept. 14 and 7 p.m. Sept. 21 in Marcham Hall, 836 Hanshaw Road.
Source: The Ithaca Journal
"It's a very sobering number, but it appears as though this would be what it costs," Mayor Jim Gilmore said.
Late Monday night, the board adopted a draft deer plan that would sterilize 30-60 does and cull or kill the rest, estimated to be 100 to 200 other deer.
Trustee David Donner was the only vote against. Donner said he supported culling but not sterilization.
"Horses and deer are creatures that panic. To trap and hold them for hours or days in cages or nets is inhumane. To subject them to an unnatural and unnecessary surgery is also inhumane," he said. "I ask for a swift and honorable death for the deer, just as I do for horses."
Gilmore and the other five trustees voted in favor of the draft plan, arguing it would be the fastest and most effective way to reduce the village's deer population. Sterilization is intended to reduce in-migration by other deer when village deer are killed, according to the village's plan.
The proposal was submitted by the village's deer-remediation advisory committee in June. Since that time, the village has held two regular evening meetings, during which the majority of speakers -- who were from Cayuga Heights, Tompkins County and central New York -- have spoken against killing the deer.
Deer were the major issue in both of the last village elections. The village had not seen a contested election for 22 years prior to the two in the last two years.
In the March elections for three trustee positions, the Community Party candidates -- who said they would be willing to consider culling -- won with 414, 405 and 380 votes. The Open Government candidates -- who said they opposed culling at this time -- gained 170, 166 and 153 votes. Voter turnout was 28 percent, according to the Board of Elections.
Trustee Robert Andolina created the financial forecast based on the deer committee's recommendations. He noted that unlike other municipalities that control the deer population through hunting, the village will not get any hunting permit revenue to offset costs.
"I think we have to think seriously about the price tag here," Andolina said.
Village Treasurer Jeffrey Silber said the entire village budget for 2010 totals $2.07 million, meaning the average $100,000 per year on deer control would be equivalent to a 5 percent tax levy increase.
Trustee Bea Szekely said the board could pare down its plan before adopting a final version or actually allocating any money, but that the board should push hard to reduce the number of deer.
"I think we had a strong mandate from the recent election to remediate the deer herd," she said.
The board is undertaking a state-mandated environmental review of the proposed plan. State law does not require a public hearing in conjunction with such environmental reviews, but it's common for municipalities to have them. The village board chose to wait until its next meeting to decide whether to hold a public hearing on the proposal.
The board's next meetings are scheduled for noon Sept. 14 and 7 p.m. Sept. 21 in Marcham Hall, 836 Hanshaw Road.
Source: The Ithaca Journal
Monday, August 24, 2009
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Deer Hunt Considered for Tyler State Park
Officials are proposing allowing bow-and-arrow hunting of deer in a suburban Philadelphia park this fall and early winter.
More than 100 people packed a Bucks County meeting room Saturday to weigh in on the proposal for Tyler State Park in Newtown Township.
If approved, the archery hunt would be in addition to an annual shotgun hunt scheduled for Dec. 9 this year. As many as 10 hunters would be allowed to hunt each day in a northern section of the 1,711-acre park for several weeks.
Officials say the one-day shotgun hunts aren't sufficiently reducing the number of deer.
Some of those attending expressed concerns about the humaneness of archery hunting. Others said they were concerned about the safety of allowing archery hunting over an extended period when the rest of the park is still open for general use.
Source: Lebanon Daily News
More than 100 people packed a Bucks County meeting room Saturday to weigh in on the proposal for Tyler State Park in Newtown Township.
If approved, the archery hunt would be in addition to an annual shotgun hunt scheduled for Dec. 9 this year. As many as 10 hunters would be allowed to hunt each day in a northern section of the 1,711-acre park for several weeks.
Officials say the one-day shotgun hunts aren't sufficiently reducing the number of deer.
Some of those attending expressed concerns about the humaneness of archery hunting. Others said they were concerned about the safety of allowing archery hunting over an extended period when the rest of the park is still open for general use.
Source: Lebanon Daily News
Thursday, August 20, 2009
IOWA NEWS: Town Enters 4th Year of Culling
As set by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the City of Ottumwa’s deer season for bow hunters will begin on September 12, 2009 and will run through January 31, 2010. The City’s deer hunting program was implemented in 2005 as a method to safely reduce the deer population within the city limits of Ottumwa. Last year, seventy-eight (78) deer were harvested as a result of the program. Since 2005, the program has successfully reduced the deer population by four hundred twenty-seven (427) deer.
Hunters interested in participating in the City’s deer season must possess a State of Iowa hunting license, a DNR Ottumwa deer tag from the Wapello County Recorder’s Office, and register with the City of Ottumwa through the Ottumwa Police Department. Hunters are required to pass an annual shooting proficiency test at Whitetail Archery in Agency, Iowa with the bow they will be hunting with and must follow all rules and regulations prescribed by the DNR and the Chief of Police.
Source: HeartlandConnection
Hunters interested in participating in the City’s deer season must possess a State of Iowa hunting license, a DNR Ottumwa deer tag from the Wapello County Recorder’s Office, and register with the City of Ottumwa through the Ottumwa Police Department. Hunters are required to pass an annual shooting proficiency test at Whitetail Archery in Agency, Iowa with the bow they will be hunting with and must follow all rules and regulations prescribed by the DNR and the Chief of Police.
Source: HeartlandConnection
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Deer Census A Likely Prelude to Deer Cull
The white-tailed deer population in the township could soon find themselves being watched. This week the Township Committee unanimously approved a resolution encouraging Union County to study the number of deer that live in the parks and wooded areas in Cranford.
The move comes after a discussion in July when members of the Cranford Environmental Commission, Hanson Park Conversancy, the Tree Advisory Board, and the Union County Board of Agriculture called for the committee to act on the issue. Making their case, residents said last month that white-tailed deer had crowded into wooded areas of Nomehegan Park and the grassy land of the Lenape Basin before moving into the surrounding residential areas, crossing major roads such as Springfield Avenue and Kenilworth Boulevard along the way.
The Township Committee members agreed with the idea of helping to thin the herd, passing the resolution that mentioned a visual inspection of the areas the deer frequent that showed a clear loss of the understory of vegetatrion in the parkland.
The move has drawn comments on both sides of the issue, with some residents supporting a deer hunt as a humane way to deal with a deer population that is out of control, while others have objected to any attempts to thin the herd as a cruel reaction to animals forced out by of their habitat by suburban sprawl.
According to the Cranford Police Department, there have been few accidents involving collisions between a deer and a vehicle, however, the accidents have been reported on Springfield Avenue, Kenilworth Boulevard and Orange Avenue.
While Union County allows a deer hunt in the area around the Watchung Reservation, usually once each year, such a measure has never been held in the area of the township.
Even with the resolution seeking action with regard to the white-tail deer population, the committee members said they would encourage efforts to thin the herd, such as trapping and relocation, or birth control measures.
"We'll make it clear that we want a shotgun hunt to be a method of last resort," Mayor David Robinson said this week of the efforts.
Source: NJ.com
The move comes after a discussion in July when members of the Cranford Environmental Commission, Hanson Park Conversancy, the Tree Advisory Board, and the Union County Board of Agriculture called for the committee to act on the issue. Making their case, residents said last month that white-tailed deer had crowded into wooded areas of Nomehegan Park and the grassy land of the Lenape Basin before moving into the surrounding residential areas, crossing major roads such as Springfield Avenue and Kenilworth Boulevard along the way.
The Township Committee members agreed with the idea of helping to thin the herd, passing the resolution that mentioned a visual inspection of the areas the deer frequent that showed a clear loss of the understory of vegetatrion in the parkland.
The move has drawn comments on both sides of the issue, with some residents supporting a deer hunt as a humane way to deal with a deer population that is out of control, while others have objected to any attempts to thin the herd as a cruel reaction to animals forced out by of their habitat by suburban sprawl.
According to the Cranford Police Department, there have been few accidents involving collisions between a deer and a vehicle, however, the accidents have been reported on Springfield Avenue, Kenilworth Boulevard and Orange Avenue.
While Union County allows a deer hunt in the area around the Watchung Reservation, usually once each year, such a measure has never been held in the area of the township.
Even with the resolution seeking action with regard to the white-tail deer population, the committee members said they would encourage efforts to thin the herd, such as trapping and relocation, or birth control measures.
"We'll make it clear that we want a shotgun hunt to be a method of last resort," Mayor David Robinson said this week of the efforts.
Source: NJ.com
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Denville Approves Deer Hunt
The Denville Township Council voted in favor of a deer hunt and will meet next month to discuss how to institute it in a safe manner.
"Initially I was opposed to the deer hunt," said township councilwoman Deborah A. Smith. "But after hearing testimony on the state of deer in Denville and how unhealthy they are, I am in support of the culling of the heard."
Denville's 11 square miles can not sustain the 2,000 deer that populate the area (182 deer per square mile!), according to Smith, who said that having a hunt will preserve both the deer and local vegetation which deer are eating due to lack of adequate food supply. The vote was taken Tuesday night.
The manner in which the hunt will take place and when will be discussed at the next meeting, which will be held on Sept. 1 in the municipal building at 1 St. Mary's Place.
In response to concerns about safety, the town will publish the locations and dates of the hunts, which will likely be done by bow hunters. The town will also require hunters go through a training program to learn how to hunt in as humane a manner as possible, Smith said.
Some Denville residents oppose the hunt, which would be the township's first in recent memory.
Wendy Bozzolasco, a concerned Denville resident and Morristown attorney, said she has researched the implications of deer hunts extensively and opposes them because they will exacerbate some of the problems they are intended to solve: automotive collisions and ticks among humans.
Citing a study from the Erie Auto Insurance Group, Bozzolasco said that insurance claims often increase during deer hunting seasons because deer, fleeing hunters often enter the roadway. Moreover, killing deer, Bozzolasco said, can increase Lyme disease among humans because deer do not spread the disease. Rather they act as hosts for ticks, she said.
"Deer are not a vector species for Lyme disease. A white tail mouse is the vector species," Bozzolasco said. "Ticks need a large bodied warm host," and when there are less deer, ticks seek out people, she said.
Bozzolasco said there are legal implications to moving forward with the proposed deer hunt and the town's plan to donate excess venison to a charity in Paterson.
"There are repercussions in terms of liability if people are injured or property damaged and specifics of that have not been discussed," Bozzolasco said. "What liability would there be if toxic meat would be donated."
Smith said the council has considered the legal implications of allowing a hunt.
"We're always concerned about those things. The group we're talking to carries their own liability. It's been done in Mountain Lakes and in Randolph," said Smith. "This is not a new thing."
Denville resident Genie Cisti, 48, suggested other alternatives include installing roadside reflectors that would discourage deer from entering roadways and encouraging residents to plant deer resistant plants.
Source: DailyRecord
"Initially I was opposed to the deer hunt," said township councilwoman Deborah A. Smith. "But after hearing testimony on the state of deer in Denville and how unhealthy they are, I am in support of the culling of the heard."
Denville's 11 square miles can not sustain the 2,000 deer that populate the area (182 deer per square mile!), according to Smith, who said that having a hunt will preserve both the deer and local vegetation which deer are eating due to lack of adequate food supply. The vote was taken Tuesday night.
The manner in which the hunt will take place and when will be discussed at the next meeting, which will be held on Sept. 1 in the municipal building at 1 St. Mary's Place.
In response to concerns about safety, the town will publish the locations and dates of the hunts, which will likely be done by bow hunters. The town will also require hunters go through a training program to learn how to hunt in as humane a manner as possible, Smith said.
Some Denville residents oppose the hunt, which would be the township's first in recent memory.
Wendy Bozzolasco, a concerned Denville resident and Morristown attorney, said she has researched the implications of deer hunts extensively and opposes them because they will exacerbate some of the problems they are intended to solve: automotive collisions and ticks among humans.
Citing a study from the Erie Auto Insurance Group, Bozzolasco said that insurance claims often increase during deer hunting seasons because deer, fleeing hunters often enter the roadway. Moreover, killing deer, Bozzolasco said, can increase Lyme disease among humans because deer do not spread the disease. Rather they act as hosts for ticks, she said.
"Deer are not a vector species for Lyme disease. A white tail mouse is the vector species," Bozzolasco said. "Ticks need a large bodied warm host," and when there are less deer, ticks seek out people, she said.
Bozzolasco said there are legal implications to moving forward with the proposed deer hunt and the town's plan to donate excess venison to a charity in Paterson.
"There are repercussions in terms of liability if people are injured or property damaged and specifics of that have not been discussed," Bozzolasco said. "What liability would there be if toxic meat would be donated."
Smith said the council has considered the legal implications of allowing a hunt.
"We're always concerned about those things. The group we're talking to carries their own liability. It's been done in Mountain Lakes and in Randolph," said Smith. "This is not a new thing."
Denville resident Genie Cisti, 48, suggested other alternatives include installing roadside reflectors that would discourage deer from entering roadways and encouraging residents to plant deer resistant plants.
Source: DailyRecord
MARYLAND NEWS: Community Fights Lyme with Four-Posters
'Faced with the highest number of reported Lyme disease cases in the state, Howard County officials have expanded a program to combat the disease.
The county has installed four new "Four-Poster" devices, which coat deer with pesticide that kills the ticks that cause Lyme disease, in Schooley Mill Park in Highland, said Philip Norman, deer project manager for the county Department of Recreation and Parks.
"That area of the county had an extremely high incidence of Lyme disease," Norman said. "The primary concern we have here is Lyme disease carried by the black-legged tick, also called the deer tick."
The devices, installed at the beginning of July, joined six others in Blandair Park, in Columbia, which were installed in 2005, Norman said. They consist of a dish of corn surrounded by four rollers, which roll pesticide onto the deer's head and ears as it noses toward the food.
Norman noted that ticks tend to concentrate around the head and ears, plus the deer then uses its head to groom the rest of its body, spreading the pesticide.
The United States Department of Agriculture developed the device in the 1990s and they are manufactured in Ellicott City, Norman said. "It's amazing in its simplicity," he said.
Howard County had the highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the state in 2008, according the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
There were 369 confirmed and probable cases reported in the county in 2008, the department reported last month, up from 358 in 2007. Statewide, the total decreased from 2,576 cases in 2007 to 2,216 in 2008.
Officials have attributed the increase here to increased development.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria transmitted by an infected tick. If not detected and treated, it may cause chronic symptoms that can include joint pain, heart palpitations and neurological problems, according to Howard County health officials.
Norman said treating the deer is key to combating the disease. "After several years of treatment in any given area you can greatly reduce the prevalence," Norman said. The white-tailed deer is the primary host of the adult tick in the county, Norman said.
The Four-Poster devices are manufactured by C.R. Daniels Co., an Ellicott City-based firm.
Andy Szulinski, a vice president at C.R. Daniels, said the company manufactures about 400 Four-Posters a year, serving 20 states, Canada and Scotland. Each unit sells for about $800 and services between 50 and 100 acres, he said.
Szulinski said the company collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on designing the devices and is the only company in the country that sells them.
Deer host more ticks than any other animal, Szulinski said, making the device the most effective way of combating Lyme disease.
"You're going after the source of the adult ticks," he said.
All of the Four-Posters are made in the company's Ellicott City manufacturing plant, he added.
C.R. Daniels was established in 1918 and makes a variety of products, from carts used by the U.S. Postal Service to lawn and garden equipment, he said. The company has a 180,000-square foot plant in Ellicott City and a 100,000-square foot plant in Tennessee, he said.
Source: ExploreHoward.com
The county has installed four new "Four-Poster" devices, which coat deer with pesticide that kills the ticks that cause Lyme disease, in Schooley Mill Park in Highland, said Philip Norman, deer project manager for the county Department of Recreation and Parks.
"That area of the county had an extremely high incidence of Lyme disease," Norman said. "The primary concern we have here is Lyme disease carried by the black-legged tick, also called the deer tick."
The devices, installed at the beginning of July, joined six others in Blandair Park, in Columbia, which were installed in 2005, Norman said. They consist of a dish of corn surrounded by four rollers, which roll pesticide onto the deer's head and ears as it noses toward the food.
Norman noted that ticks tend to concentrate around the head and ears, plus the deer then uses its head to groom the rest of its body, spreading the pesticide.
The United States Department of Agriculture developed the device in the 1990s and they are manufactured in Ellicott City, Norman said. "It's amazing in its simplicity," he said.
Howard County had the highest number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the state in 2008, according the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
There were 369 confirmed and probable cases reported in the county in 2008, the department reported last month, up from 358 in 2007. Statewide, the total decreased from 2,576 cases in 2007 to 2,216 in 2008.
Officials have attributed the increase here to increased development.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria transmitted by an infected tick. If not detected and treated, it may cause chronic symptoms that can include joint pain, heart palpitations and neurological problems, according to Howard County health officials.
Norman said treating the deer is key to combating the disease. "After several years of treatment in any given area you can greatly reduce the prevalence," Norman said. The white-tailed deer is the primary host of the adult tick in the county, Norman said.
The Four-Poster devices are manufactured by C.R. Daniels Co., an Ellicott City-based firm.
Andy Szulinski, a vice president at C.R. Daniels, said the company manufactures about 400 Four-Posters a year, serving 20 states, Canada and Scotland. Each unit sells for about $800 and services between 50 and 100 acres, he said.
Szulinski said the company collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on designing the devices and is the only company in the country that sells them.
Deer host more ticks than any other animal, Szulinski said, making the device the most effective way of combating Lyme disease.
"You're going after the source of the adult ticks," he said.
All of the Four-Posters are made in the company's Ellicott City manufacturing plant, he added.
C.R. Daniels was established in 1918 and makes a variety of products, from carts used by the U.S. Postal Service to lawn and garden equipment, he said. The company has a 180,000-square foot plant in Ellicott City and a 100,000-square foot plant in Tennessee, he said.
Source: ExploreHoward.com
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
KANSAS NEWS: Police Officers to do the Shooting at Shawnee Mission Park
The Lenexa City Council on Tuesday cleared the way for police officers to significantly reduce the deer population in Shawnee Mission Park this fall.
The council unanimously approved a special event permit to allow a deer harvest in the southern half of the park, which is within Lenexa’s city limits. The park’s northern half is in Shawnee.
The permit, which costs $75, runs from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31 and was sought by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District.
Lenexa Mayor Mike Boehm said approving the permit wasn’t a matter of passing judgment on the deer program. He said that issue had been settled by the county Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners.
“It’s on parkland owned by the county. It’s their jurisdiction,” Boehm said. “They can lock down the park and do it in a safe manner. We believe it should be allowed.”
Vicki Charlesworth, Shawnee’s assistant city manager, said her city has an ordinance allowing law enforcement officers to shoot within the city limits, and that park officials did not need a special permit.
The park district is recruiting volunteer police officers to reduce the herd from about 200 deer per square mile to 50 — a 75 percent reduction. The culling could begin as early as October.
If shooting the deer doesn’t kill enough, the park district plans to bring in bow hunters to finish the job.
The park covers 3.5 square miles.
Park officials have said factors influencing their recommendation were statistics on deer-vehicle accidents, complaints from homeowners and commercial businesses about increased plant and landscaping damage, and concerns about diseases associated with ticks carried by deer. They added that the deer population also was affecting the ecology of the park.
Animal-rights activists have argued that overdevelopment in the area has destroyed deer habitat and have urged implementation of nonlethal methods of deer control.
Source: Kansas City Star
The council unanimously approved a special event permit to allow a deer harvest in the southern half of the park, which is within Lenexa’s city limits. The park’s northern half is in Shawnee.
The permit, which costs $75, runs from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31 and was sought by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District.
Lenexa Mayor Mike Boehm said approving the permit wasn’t a matter of passing judgment on the deer program. He said that issue had been settled by the county Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners.
“It’s on parkland owned by the county. It’s their jurisdiction,” Boehm said. “They can lock down the park and do it in a safe manner. We believe it should be allowed.”
Vicki Charlesworth, Shawnee’s assistant city manager, said her city has an ordinance allowing law enforcement officers to shoot within the city limits, and that park officials did not need a special permit.
The park district is recruiting volunteer police officers to reduce the herd from about 200 deer per square mile to 50 — a 75 percent reduction. The culling could begin as early as October.
If shooting the deer doesn’t kill enough, the park district plans to bring in bow hunters to finish the job.
The park covers 3.5 square miles.
Park officials have said factors influencing their recommendation were statistics on deer-vehicle accidents, complaints from homeowners and commercial businesses about increased plant and landscaping damage, and concerns about diseases associated with ticks carried by deer. They added that the deer population also was affecting the ecology of the park.
Animal-rights activists have argued that overdevelopment in the area has destroyed deer habitat and have urged implementation of nonlethal methods of deer control.
Source: Kansas City Star
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