from PR Newswire: In achieving another objective in its deer management plan, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has finalized its urban/suburban deer management plan to more effectively manage deer in developed areas of the state. This new plan has been posted on the agency's website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us), and can be viewed by clicking on "Deer Program" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage and then selecting "Urban/Suburban Deer Management Plan."
"Human-deer conflicts are a real, not just a perceived, problem," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "Pennsylvania primarily manages deer through hunting, but hunter success, especially in developed areas, is influenced by hunter access to land open to hunting and safety zone issues.
"The use of traditional hunting methods are always the most economical way to manage deer, and this plan employs traditional deer management techniques. However, it also offers non-traditional deer management approaches, as well as an educational program that incorporates current practices and possible solutions into an integrated, comprehensive approach to resolve urban/suburban deer problems."
Roe noted that, due to the agency's limited financial resources, it would take time to implement all the strategies in the plan.
Although white-tailed deer provide many Pennsylvanians countless hours of recreational opportunities and enjoyment, are important to the state's economy, and are officially recognized as the Commonwealth's "state animal," Roe noted that they can wear out their welcome quickly when they begin stripping vegetation in yards and become obstacles on city and suburban streets.
The plan outlines four main goals: reduce deer impacts in developed areas using hunting options; reduce deer-human conflicts using non-hunting options where hunting options are shown to not be feasible or sufficient; inform urban leadership, residents, and hunters about deer management options and opportunities in developed areas; and encourage positive relationships between hunters and communities in developed areas.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
IOWA NEWS: Confirmed cougar kill of deer
DES MOINES, Iowa A mountain lion is back in Iowa.
State biologists have confirmed a mountain lion killed a deer in Marshall County. It's the first sign of a big cat in Iowa since October 2004.
The deer was found on Tuesday near Bangor. Rick Trine of the Iowa Department of Natural Resource says the deer had claw marks on its hind quarters and neck, and puncture wounds to the neck and head.
Trine says the deer only had three legs -- from an old injury -- and it was probably easy prey.
According to the DNR, there have been two mountain lions shot, one killed on the road, one photographed in the same general area as the Marshall County cat, and six confirmed tracks.
State biologists have confirmed a mountain lion killed a deer in Marshall County. It's the first sign of a big cat in Iowa since October 2004.
The deer was found on Tuesday near Bangor. Rick Trine of the Iowa Department of Natural Resource says the deer had claw marks on its hind quarters and neck, and puncture wounds to the neck and head.
Trine says the deer only had three legs -- from an old injury -- and it was probably easy prey.
According to the DNR, there have been two mountain lions shot, one killed on the road, one photographed in the same general area as the Marshall County cat, and six confirmed tracks.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
IOWA NEWS: 2005 Season A Record Harvest
State wildlife officials said Tuesday that hunters have made a record dent in Iowa's deer population.
A recently compiled deer hunting survey estimates 17,000 more whitetail deer — 210,000 — were killed during the fall and winter deer hunting seasons of 2005-2006 than in the previous season.
"This is one of those times that what we planned to accomplish and what happened were the same thing," said deer biologist Willie Suchy with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
In the last few years, pressure from Iowa legislators prompted natural resources officials to increase the number of antlerless-only deer hunting licenses, targeted mostly at female deer, available. Legislators were responding to complaints from the state's insurance industry and the public because of increased vehicle-deer accidents, and from farmers who said deer were destroying their crops.
State biologists have estimated Iowa's deer kill is up from approximately 193,000 the previous hunting season. As a result, there will be fewer antlerless deer licenses offered for the 2006-2007 seasons.
"The proposal that goes to the Natural Resources Commission next week will reduce antlerless deer quotas in north-central and northwest Iowa," Suchy said. "In southern Iowa, it looks like the harvest started to bring deer numbers down and began to level them off. If we can do that for a couple of years, we will see deer numbers reduced enough in southern Iowa."
Northeast Iowa still has a higher-than-wanted population in some areas, officials said.
A recently compiled deer hunting survey estimates 17,000 more whitetail deer — 210,000 — were killed during the fall and winter deer hunting seasons of 2005-2006 than in the previous season.
"This is one of those times that what we planned to accomplish and what happened were the same thing," said deer biologist Willie Suchy with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
In the last few years, pressure from Iowa legislators prompted natural resources officials to increase the number of antlerless-only deer hunting licenses, targeted mostly at female deer, available. Legislators were responding to complaints from the state's insurance industry and the public because of increased vehicle-deer accidents, and from farmers who said deer were destroying their crops.
State biologists have estimated Iowa's deer kill is up from approximately 193,000 the previous hunting season. As a result, there will be fewer antlerless deer licenses offered for the 2006-2007 seasons.
"The proposal that goes to the Natural Resources Commission next week will reduce antlerless deer quotas in north-central and northwest Iowa," Suchy said. "In southern Iowa, it looks like the harvest started to bring deer numbers down and began to level them off. If we can do that for a couple of years, we will see deer numbers reduced enough in southern Iowa."
Northeast Iowa still has a higher-than-wanted population in some areas, officials said.
Uninvited Guests
Tis the season...
CHARLEVOIX, MI - A wayward deer caused damage to a Charlevoix business Friday. Charlevoix deputy police chief Scott Hankins said he was called to the Auto Value store, located at 108 West Carpenter St., at about 5:29 p.m. to a report that a deer had just crashed through a front window at the business and was still running around inside the building. Hankins said the business was open and about four employees were inside at the time of the incident.
GRANITE CITY, MO - Imagine waking up to a 150 pound deer, crashing through your living room window. A Granite City husband and wife wish that would have been a bad dream. Instead, it was part of a frightening reality. The Pulliam family still can't believe what woke them up Saturday morning. It was the sound of glass shattering, and a deer jumping through the front window. The unexpected breakfast guest showed up almost 7:30 in the morning. All 150 pounds of the deer came crashing through the living room.
NORMAL, IL - As officials at Southern Illinois University deal with an angry doe who's been attacking students and staff, authorities in central Illinois are having problems of their own. At a retirement residence in Normal, a woman in her 80s found an uninvited -- and bleeding -- guest in her apartment. A doe had crashed through her bedroom window and bumbled around her apartment, breaking a lamp and an air-conditioning unit. It ended up in her bathtub. Though officials tried to save the deer, it was eventually euthanized. The woman was not injured.
CHARLEVOIX, MI - A wayward deer caused damage to a Charlevoix business Friday. Charlevoix deputy police chief Scott Hankins said he was called to the Auto Value store, located at 108 West Carpenter St., at about 5:29 p.m. to a report that a deer had just crashed through a front window at the business and was still running around inside the building. Hankins said the business was open and about four employees were inside at the time of the incident.
GRANITE CITY, MO - Imagine waking up to a 150 pound deer, crashing through your living room window. A Granite City husband and wife wish that would have been a bad dream. Instead, it was part of a frightening reality. The Pulliam family still can't believe what woke them up Saturday morning. It was the sound of glass shattering, and a deer jumping through the front window. The unexpected breakfast guest showed up almost 7:30 in the morning. All 150 pounds of the deer came crashing through the living room.
NORMAL, IL - As officials at Southern Illinois University deal with an angry doe who's been attacking students and staff, authorities in central Illinois are having problems of their own. At a retirement residence in Normal, a woman in her 80s found an uninvited -- and bleeding -- guest in her apartment. A doe had crashed through her bedroom window and bumbled around her apartment, breaking a lamp and an air-conditioning unit. It ended up in her bathtub. Though officials tried to save the deer, it was eventually euthanized. The woman was not injured.
Monday, May 22, 2006
NEW YORK NEWS: Deer impacts task force formed
A new task force has been formed to deal with issues caused by the burgeoning population of white-tail deer in Westchester, County Parks Commissioner Joseph A. Stout has announced.
The organization, called the Westchester County Forest Regeneration Citizens’ Task Force will be headed by Greenburgh resident William S. Greenawalt. The group will study current research on deer population, including deer counts and other data, to develop a strategy that county parks staff, municipal officials and private property owners can use in the management of deer-related problems. While hunting has always been prohibited in county parks, carefully regulated and monitored deer culling will be discussed as a possible means of reducing the number and size of deer herds.
The task force comprises representatives from a wide range of organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the Humane Society, Audubon New York, Teatown Lake Reservation, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Mianus River Gorge, Pace University Environmental Center and Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.
“If you live in Westchester chances are you’ve been affected by white-tail deer in some way, whether they’ve chewed on your shrubs, or darted out in front of your car at night, or even if you’ve just enjoyed watching them grazing at the edge of a forest,” Stout said. “They’re beautiful to look at but conservation advocates have strongly advised us that deer over-population has a significant negative impact on the health of our forests.”
Stout said that the idea to form a task force on the white-tailed deer was conceived during the Park’s Department’s annual “Conversations on Conservation” conference, a program that brings together public and private conservation advocates and experts, municipal planners and private citizens to discuss and develop solutions to challenging environmental issues. He said the conference made it clear that the white-tail deer today is fairly universally considered nuisance wildlife and that a regional strategy was needed. The conference organizers approached County Executive Andy Spano who endorsed the formation of the task force but at the same time charged the county’s Parks and Planning departments to develop a deer-management program and plan of action to be used in the county parks, to be completed within half a year.
The organization, called the Westchester County Forest Regeneration Citizens’ Task Force will be headed by Greenburgh resident William S. Greenawalt. The group will study current research on deer population, including deer counts and other data, to develop a strategy that county parks staff, municipal officials and private property owners can use in the management of deer-related problems. While hunting has always been prohibited in county parks, carefully regulated and monitored deer culling will be discussed as a possible means of reducing the number and size of deer herds.
The task force comprises representatives from a wide range of organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the Humane Society, Audubon New York, Teatown Lake Reservation, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Mianus River Gorge, Pace University Environmental Center and Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.
“If you live in Westchester chances are you’ve been affected by white-tail deer in some way, whether they’ve chewed on your shrubs, or darted out in front of your car at night, or even if you’ve just enjoyed watching them grazing at the edge of a forest,” Stout said. “They’re beautiful to look at but conservation advocates have strongly advised us that deer over-population has a significant negative impact on the health of our forests.”
Stout said that the idea to form a task force on the white-tailed deer was conceived during the Park’s Department’s annual “Conversations on Conservation” conference, a program that brings together public and private conservation advocates and experts, municipal planners and private citizens to discuss and develop solutions to challenging environmental issues. He said the conference made it clear that the white-tail deer today is fairly universally considered nuisance wildlife and that a regional strategy was needed. The conference organizers approached County Executive Andy Spano who endorsed the formation of the task force but at the same time charged the county’s Parks and Planning departments to develop a deer-management program and plan of action to be used in the county parks, to be completed within half a year.
Friday, May 19, 2006
TENNESSEE NEWS: Deer Attacks Kindergarten
Kindergarten students at Robert E. Lillard Design Center School in Bordeaux had an unexpected visitor to their language arts class Thursday morning when a deer crashed through the room's first-floor window and landed at the foot of the teacher's desk.
At first, teacher Linda Fletcher was shocked and bewildered, but then her instincts kicked in. As the injured deer crawled away from her desk and behind the coat closet, she acted.
"All I could think about was getting away from the hooves and getting the children out," Fletcher said.
Two students suffered minor cuts from flying glass and one complained of chest pain — but the rest of the class was OK after the incident, school officials said.
Five-year-old Marcel Fogg was sitting at a table far away from the deer, which he and his other classmates have named Rudolph, but said he was frightened when the animal broke through the glass and flew over the heads of two classmates sitting beneath the window. "I thought Rudolph was gonna bite me," Marcel said.
Metro Animal Control Services and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency were called to the scene, where they tranquilized the deer and then euthanized it, said Steve Patrick, a TWRA regional manager. The deer had broken and severed its hind legs and probably would have gone into shock if it were not put down, he said. Animal Control officials will run tests to make sure that the animal was not diseased or that there could have been any other cause for its behavior, he said.
But such incidents are not altogether uncommon in Middle Tennessee, Patrick said. It happens once or twice a year — often because of the large deer population that lives in wooded cover so close to urban areas, he said. Sometimes deer get confused and wander into populated areas. Male deer are especially territorial and have been known to charge their own reflections.
At first, teacher Linda Fletcher was shocked and bewildered, but then her instincts kicked in. As the injured deer crawled away from her desk and behind the coat closet, she acted.
"All I could think about was getting away from the hooves and getting the children out," Fletcher said.
Two students suffered minor cuts from flying glass and one complained of chest pain — but the rest of the class was OK after the incident, school officials said.
Five-year-old Marcel Fogg was sitting at a table far away from the deer, which he and his other classmates have named Rudolph, but said he was frightened when the animal broke through the glass and flew over the heads of two classmates sitting beneath the window. "I thought Rudolph was gonna bite me," Marcel said.
Metro Animal Control Services and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency were called to the scene, where they tranquilized the deer and then euthanized it, said Steve Patrick, a TWRA regional manager. The deer had broken and severed its hind legs and probably would have gone into shock if it were not put down, he said. Animal Control officials will run tests to make sure that the animal was not diseased or that there could have been any other cause for its behavior, he said.
But such incidents are not altogether uncommon in Middle Tennessee, Patrick said. It happens once or twice a year — often because of the large deer population that lives in wooded cover so close to urban areas, he said. Sometimes deer get confused and wander into populated areas. Male deer are especially territorial and have been known to charge their own reflections.
ILLINOIS NEWS: When Deer Attack
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Tammy Emery used to think of deer as sweet and adorable, like Bambi. An encounter with a hard-charging doe changed that. The 31-year-old secretary was among at least seven people threatened or injured by female deer last year on Southern Illinois University's campus - attacks that have prompted the school to wage a safety campaign during this spring's fawning season.
The attacks in the woods at the 20,000-student university have been attributed to a combination of protective motherly instinct, squeezed habitat and, in some cases, a little too much human curiosity.
The message now: Keep your eyes peeled for deer, don't approach them, and if a wild-eyed deer starts bounding your way, run.
"Before last year, no one really had heard of this sort of thing," says Clay Nielsen, a wildlife ecologist at the university.
Nielsen believes different deer were responsible for the three attacks that sent Emery and at least three others to the hospital, mostly with minor injuries.
"It wasn't like it was one crazy animal," Nielsen says. But some of the attacks may have been avoided, he thinks, if the victims hadn't committed an absolute no-no: moving in on a fawn to pet it.
Now, with fawning season soon to peak - last year's attacks happened June 7-15 - Nielsen and other campus officials are using signs, radio spots, e-mails and fliers about the deer in Thompson Woods. Later this month, Nielsen will lead a seminar titled "Avoiding Deer-Human Encounters of the Third Kind on Campus."
The effort also includes a two-year study by Nielsen and other researchers to count the deer, pinpoint how the animals affect the campus' ecosystem and gauge what locals think of them. Nielsen says the study will offer no recommendations on what to do about the deer, leaving that difficult issue for administrators.
All of this comes too late for Emery, a secretary in the political science department who still winces when she recounts what happened to her on the June afternoon she took a shortcut through Thompson Woods.
Emery heard a rustling and saw "this deer was headed right toward me, full charge." Emery never saw any fawn, only the adult deer with eyes wide.
"I could tell it was angry, but I wasn't sure what about," she says. "I know by the time I was in the area she was really mad and going to take it all out on me. I couldn't have run if I tried."
In an instant, the deer knocked the woman to the ground and delivered a flurry of kicks. Emery, screaming, curled defensively into a ball as the snorting animal rained blows on her, slicing open one of her ears and leaving her with huge bruises and a hoofprint on her hand.
"I thought, `This is crazy, this can't be real. I'm being attacked by a deer,'" she recalls.
The deer was scared off by passers-by. Emery has not been back in that stretch of the woods since.
While taking a shortcut through the woods this week, Stephanie Eastwood, a biochemistry major, wondered what all the fuss was about, saying deer were the least of her worries.
"Deer are docile creatures - they don't just attack," said Eastwood, 26. "I find it amusing to see the animals in the park, but all I've seen here is squirrels and snakes, and snakes bother me more."
Nielsen suspects various factors conspired in last year's attacks, including an increase in the deer population and the clearing of trees and windbreaks around the campus' edge. That shrinking habitat has forced the animals into Thompson Woods, which is 20 or so acres with hundreds of yards of paved trails.
"It's the result of having a beautiful campus that we have to deal with wildlife," Nielsen says.
Emery says she thinks differently deer these days: "When they're mad, they're vicious. They're not the pretty creatures they were to me before."
The attacks in the woods at the 20,000-student university have been attributed to a combination of protective motherly instinct, squeezed habitat and, in some cases, a little too much human curiosity.
The message now: Keep your eyes peeled for deer, don't approach them, and if a wild-eyed deer starts bounding your way, run.
"Before last year, no one really had heard of this sort of thing," says Clay Nielsen, a wildlife ecologist at the university.
Nielsen believes different deer were responsible for the three attacks that sent Emery and at least three others to the hospital, mostly with minor injuries.
"It wasn't like it was one crazy animal," Nielsen says. But some of the attacks may have been avoided, he thinks, if the victims hadn't committed an absolute no-no: moving in on a fawn to pet it.
Now, with fawning season soon to peak - last year's attacks happened June 7-15 - Nielsen and other campus officials are using signs, radio spots, e-mails and fliers about the deer in Thompson Woods. Later this month, Nielsen will lead a seminar titled "Avoiding Deer-Human Encounters of the Third Kind on Campus."
The effort also includes a two-year study by Nielsen and other researchers to count the deer, pinpoint how the animals affect the campus' ecosystem and gauge what locals think of them. Nielsen says the study will offer no recommendations on what to do about the deer, leaving that difficult issue for administrators.
All of this comes too late for Emery, a secretary in the political science department who still winces when she recounts what happened to her on the June afternoon she took a shortcut through Thompson Woods.
Emery heard a rustling and saw "this deer was headed right toward me, full charge." Emery never saw any fawn, only the adult deer with eyes wide.
"I could tell it was angry, but I wasn't sure what about," she says. "I know by the time I was in the area she was really mad and going to take it all out on me. I couldn't have run if I tried."
In an instant, the deer knocked the woman to the ground and delivered a flurry of kicks. Emery, screaming, curled defensively into a ball as the snorting animal rained blows on her, slicing open one of her ears and leaving her with huge bruises and a hoofprint on her hand.
"I thought, `This is crazy, this can't be real. I'm being attacked by a deer,'" she recalls.
The deer was scared off by passers-by. Emery has not been back in that stretch of the woods since.
While taking a shortcut through the woods this week, Stephanie Eastwood, a biochemistry major, wondered what all the fuss was about, saying deer were the least of her worries.
"Deer are docile creatures - they don't just attack," said Eastwood, 26. "I find it amusing to see the animals in the park, but all I've seen here is squirrels and snakes, and snakes bother me more."
Nielsen suspects various factors conspired in last year's attacks, including an increase in the deer population and the clearing of trees and windbreaks around the campus' edge. That shrinking habitat has forced the animals into Thompson Woods, which is 20 or so acres with hundreds of yards of paved trails.
"It's the result of having a beautiful campus that we have to deal with wildlife," Nielsen says.
Emery says she thinks differently deer these days: "When they're mad, they're vicious. They're not the pretty creatures they were to me before."
Thursday, May 18, 2006
ILLINOIS NEWS: Deer Culling in Chicago Extends Beyond O'Hare
The Chicago Park District plans to seek a permit to kill deer at a North Side nature preserve, and sharpshooters likely will begin thinning the herd this fall. Deer have overrun the North Park Village Nature Center at Pulaski and Peterson. Staff members said Wednesday there is no other choice than "managing" the white-tails' population.
Only one deer was seen there 10 years ago, but at last count, 20 of them now live at the 46-acre preserve. About half are pregnant does, due to give birth in the next few weeks. Deer usually bear twin fawns, "so the number could be doubling this year" -- to 40 -- said center director Claudia Regojo.
State wildlife experts say the acreage is large enough to support only one or two deer. But Regojo said that doesn't mean large numbers must be killed. Staffers will monitor plant loss -- the major reason the deer must go -- to determine how much to reduce the herd. She told center volunteers in a letter last week that "biological diversity" is the goal, "with each organism [plant or animal] carrying equal importance."
Rutting male deer "girdle" and kill trees by rubbing off bark with their antlers. Deer eat native wildflowers and make it hard to get new varieties started.
Public safety is another factor, Regojo said, noting that 12,000 schoolchildren visit in spring and fall. In fall -- mating season -- male deer can be aggressive. In spring, females nursing their young may endanger people who get too close.
A buck charged a man jogging along Bryn Mawr near the nature center last fall. The man wasn't injured. But last spring, two people were hospitalized out of seven who were attacked or threatened by does near the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
The state issued 29 deer-culling permits in northern Illinois last winter and turned down none, said Marty Jones, urban deer project manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
There is no practical alternative to shooting the animals, Jones said. Relocation risks spreading the chronic wasting disease that deer carry. Newcomer animals must compete with established deer. And the mortality rate is high. "You can't catch enough to achieve your goals," he said.
As for contraception, "It's in its infancy, very experimental," he said.
But Steve Hindi of Geneva, president of SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), said, "People who say contraception doesn't work [on deer] tend to be people who just want to shoot them."
For years, sharpshooters have been clearing O'Hare Airport of excess deer, which stray onto runways and taxiways. But using that method at the nature center would be the only other culling of deer ever done within the city limits, said Joel Greenberg, author of A Natural History of the Chicago Region.
Only one deer was seen there 10 years ago, but at last count, 20 of them now live at the 46-acre preserve. About half are pregnant does, due to give birth in the next few weeks. Deer usually bear twin fawns, "so the number could be doubling this year" -- to 40 -- said center director Claudia Regojo.
State wildlife experts say the acreage is large enough to support only one or two deer. But Regojo said that doesn't mean large numbers must be killed. Staffers will monitor plant loss -- the major reason the deer must go -- to determine how much to reduce the herd. She told center volunteers in a letter last week that "biological diversity" is the goal, "with each organism [plant or animal] carrying equal importance."
Rutting male deer "girdle" and kill trees by rubbing off bark with their antlers. Deer eat native wildflowers and make it hard to get new varieties started.
Public safety is another factor, Regojo said, noting that 12,000 schoolchildren visit in spring and fall. In fall -- mating season -- male deer can be aggressive. In spring, females nursing their young may endanger people who get too close.
A buck charged a man jogging along Bryn Mawr near the nature center last fall. The man wasn't injured. But last spring, two people were hospitalized out of seven who were attacked or threatened by does near the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
The state issued 29 deer-culling permits in northern Illinois last winter and turned down none, said Marty Jones, urban deer project manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
There is no practical alternative to shooting the animals, Jones said. Relocation risks spreading the chronic wasting disease that deer carry. Newcomer animals must compete with established deer. And the mortality rate is high. "You can't catch enough to achieve your goals," he said.
As for contraception, "It's in its infancy, very experimental," he said.
But Steve Hindi of Geneva, president of SHARK (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness), said, "People who say contraception doesn't work [on deer] tend to be people who just want to shoot them."
For years, sharpshooters have been clearing O'Hare Airport of excess deer, which stray onto runways and taxiways. But using that method at the nature center would be the only other culling of deer ever done within the city limits, said Joel Greenberg, author of A Natural History of the Chicago Region.
Monday, May 15, 2006
NEW ZEALAND NEWS: Illegal Deer Introduction Threatens Park
The Department of Conservation says the re-introduction of deer into Egmont National Park is deliberate and could pollute local water supplies and damage forest regeneration.
Deer have been banned from the park since the turn of the century.
DOC's Stratford Area Manager Robert Bennett says it is believed about three deer were dropped into the park deliberately, perhaps by recreational hunters.
But he says the deer is a pest, like the possum, and anyone who is found to have released it could face prosecution.
Mr Bennett says a team of hunters looking for the deer will shoot them before they have a chance to become more widespread.
Deer have been banned from the park since the turn of the century.
DOC's Stratford Area Manager Robert Bennett says it is believed about three deer were dropped into the park deliberately, perhaps by recreational hunters.
But he says the deer is a pest, like the possum, and anyone who is found to have released it could face prosecution.
Mr Bennett says a team of hunters looking for the deer will shoot them before they have a chance to become more widespread.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
NEW YORK NEWS: Lyme Disease Fears Grow on Staten Island
Staten Island has traditionally had a low incidence of Lyme disease. But some worry that more Islanders will get the disease in their back yards due to the borough's growing deer population.
Lyme disease, which is transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, can cause arthritis, fatigue, memory problems, facial paralysis or, at its worst, abnormal heart rhythm and brain infection. It is treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
"Historically, we've had very few cases that have emanated from Staten Island," said Dr. Ernest B. Visconti, chief of infectious diseases at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn. "It may be coming here in the future."
To raise awareness of the disease, the borough president's office will host a forum at the College of Staten Island on June 20 -- just in time for July 4, one of the busiest days for doctors specializing in Lyme disease.
Ever since deer showed up in the borough about 15 years ago, doctors and environmentalists have been on the lookout for a growth in the incidence of Lyme disease. They have not yet established that the disease is in the borough.
Meanwhile, the deer here have multiplied over the years.
Lyme disease, which is transmitted by the bite of a deer tick, can cause arthritis, fatigue, memory problems, facial paralysis or, at its worst, abnormal heart rhythm and brain infection. It is treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
"Historically, we've had very few cases that have emanated from Staten Island," said Dr. Ernest B. Visconti, chief of infectious diseases at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn. "It may be coming here in the future."
To raise awareness of the disease, the borough president's office will host a forum at the College of Staten Island on June 20 -- just in time for July 4, one of the busiest days for doctors specializing in Lyme disease.
Ever since deer showed up in the borough about 15 years ago, doctors and environmentalists have been on the lookout for a growth in the incidence of Lyme disease. They have not yet established that the disease is in the borough.
Meanwhile, the deer here have multiplied over the years.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
PENNSYLVANIA NEWS: Statewide deer impact monitoring to begin
From Penn State's news service (edited for brevity)
A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, working under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), this spring is unveiling a new rapid habitat-assessment tool for state officials to use in measuring the impact of deer browsing on public lands.
Gauging the effects of deer browsing is important because both DCNR and the Pennsylvania Game Commission have stated concern about the condition of the state's forests after decades of suspected overbrowsing by too many white-tailed deer. State officials say that desired tree species, such as red oaks, are not regenerating. The Game Commission is changing its deer-management strategy from simply estimating deer numbers to also assessing forest habitat conditions and deer-herd health.
"Measuring deer impacts on relatively small blocks of forestland is not a new concept, with scientists repeatedly making intensive measurements of tree regeneration," said Duane Diefenbach, adjunct associate professor of wildlife in Penn State's School of Forest Resources and assistant unit leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. "But we are entering into uncharted territory here. The question is, can we develop an accurate, cost-effective technique for using these measures across a broad scale to help make management decisions for hundreds of square miles of forest? Except for the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative in northwestern Pennsylvania, I am not aware of any study collecting vegetation data directly relevant to deer browsing on such a large scale."
In the coming months, Diefenbach, his colleagues in the School of Forest Resources, and his most dependable students will be walking transects -- with the aid of geographic information system technology -- and counting plants. They will tally wildflowers that deer prefer, such as Canada mayflower, jack in the pulpit, Indian cucumber and trillium. They will count tree seedlings of every species under 3 feet in height, and they will count shrubs and saplings. "We are going to count plant species known to be preferred by deer," he said. "And we will be quantifying the presence of plants such as mountain laurel and ferns that interfere with the regeneration of trees.
"We have tried to choose simple, quantitative measures -- mostly counting plants or recording presence," Diefenbach added. "We will be entering the data on field computers that have built in error-checking routines. Over the course of this summer, we hope to collect data from 3,000 plots over an area of about 500 square miles. The idea is to make this a rapid assessment. We can't afford to take detailed measurements everywhere. We'd like to spend as little as 10 minutes at a site collecting data, and then move on the next site, ultimately covering as large an area as possible."
Merlin Benner, a DCNR wildlife biologist based in Wellsboro, believes the rapid habitat assessment tool being developed by Penn State is important for managing the 2.1 million acres of forestland in the state forest system. "We have all kinds of protocols for monitoring habitat, but they are pretty intensive and they are intended to look at stands of trees to make timber management decisions on plots from 30 to 100 acres," he says. "DMAP is on a larger scale, on the order of tens of thousands of acres. We need a habitat-assessment tool that is more applicable across a broader scale and takes less effort.
"The shortcoming of our other monitoring is that it only focuses on tree species," Benner added. "We (the state Bureau of Forestry) have begun our own browsing surveys and we have done it using the available literature, but we feel there is the potential for something better, and we hope that is provided by Diefenbach's work."
Diefenbach knows that deer management and habitat assessment are extremely controversial in Pennsylvania, with many hunters contending
that the Game Commission and DCNR have lowered deer numbers to unacceptably low levels on public lands. He also understands that angry sportsmen skeptical about valuing trees over deer are likely to second-guess his methods and doubt his data.
"I am not concerned about that -- good habitat is critical for good deer hunting," he said. "I picked the best students I could find, and our methodology is objective, transparent and reliable. I am confident about the quality of the data we are going to collect. We are using the best science available and incorporating measures that scientists have proposed as deer-browsing indicators.
A researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, working under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), this spring is unveiling a new rapid habitat-assessment tool for state officials to use in measuring the impact of deer browsing on public lands.
Gauging the effects of deer browsing is important because both DCNR and the Pennsylvania Game Commission have stated concern about the condition of the state's forests after decades of suspected overbrowsing by too many white-tailed deer. State officials say that desired tree species, such as red oaks, are not regenerating. The Game Commission is changing its deer-management strategy from simply estimating deer numbers to also assessing forest habitat conditions and deer-herd health.
"Measuring deer impacts on relatively small blocks of forestland is not a new concept, with scientists repeatedly making intensive measurements of tree regeneration," said Duane Diefenbach, adjunct associate professor of wildlife in Penn State's School of Forest Resources and assistant unit leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. "But we are entering into uncharted territory here. The question is, can we develop an accurate, cost-effective technique for using these measures across a broad scale to help make management decisions for hundreds of square miles of forest? Except for the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative in northwestern Pennsylvania, I am not aware of any study collecting vegetation data directly relevant to deer browsing on such a large scale."
In the coming months, Diefenbach, his colleagues in the School of Forest Resources, and his most dependable students will be walking transects -- with the aid of geographic information system technology -- and counting plants. They will tally wildflowers that deer prefer, such as Canada mayflower, jack in the pulpit, Indian cucumber and trillium. They will count tree seedlings of every species under 3 feet in height, and they will count shrubs and saplings. "We are going to count plant species known to be preferred by deer," he said. "And we will be quantifying the presence of plants such as mountain laurel and ferns that interfere with the regeneration of trees.
"We have tried to choose simple, quantitative measures -- mostly counting plants or recording presence," Diefenbach added. "We will be entering the data on field computers that have built in error-checking routines. Over the course of this summer, we hope to collect data from 3,000 plots over an area of about 500 square miles. The idea is to make this a rapid assessment. We can't afford to take detailed measurements everywhere. We'd like to spend as little as 10 minutes at a site collecting data, and then move on the next site, ultimately covering as large an area as possible."
Merlin Benner, a DCNR wildlife biologist based in Wellsboro, believes the rapid habitat assessment tool being developed by Penn State is important for managing the 2.1 million acres of forestland in the state forest system. "We have all kinds of protocols for monitoring habitat, but they are pretty intensive and they are intended to look at stands of trees to make timber management decisions on plots from 30 to 100 acres," he says. "DMAP is on a larger scale, on the order of tens of thousands of acres. We need a habitat-assessment tool that is more applicable across a broader scale and takes less effort.
"The shortcoming of our other monitoring is that it only focuses on tree species," Benner added. "We (the state Bureau of Forestry) have begun our own browsing surveys and we have done it using the available literature, but we feel there is the potential for something better, and we hope that is provided by Diefenbach's work."
Diefenbach knows that deer management and habitat assessment are extremely controversial in Pennsylvania, with many hunters contending
that the Game Commission and DCNR have lowered deer numbers to unacceptably low levels on public lands. He also understands that angry sportsmen skeptical about valuing trees over deer are likely to second-guess his methods and doubt his data.
"I am not concerned about that -- good habitat is critical for good deer hunting," he said. "I picked the best students I could find, and our methodology is objective, transparent and reliable. I am confident about the quality of the data we are going to collect. We are using the best science available and incorporating measures that scientists have proposed as deer-browsing indicators.
Monday, May 08, 2006
VIRGINIA NEWS: Group Forms to Fight Declining Deer Population
Deer hunters concerned with a declining deer population on national forest land have created an alliance to increase the presence of the animals.
Myron Reedy, co-founder of the Shenandoah Sportsmen’s Alliance, said Rockingham County needs a group dedicated to improving the habitat for deer.
"It’s a shame to not have enough deer in the forest for hunting," he said. "Hopefully this group will be able to figure out some corrective changes."
For the last five years, the number of deer killed during hunting in Rockingham County has declined. According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 5,536 deer were killed in 2000, compared to 4,085 killed in 2005, a 26 percent decrease.
Rodney Mongold, another co-founder of the alliance, worries that future generations will become bored with the outdoors if there is nothing to hunt.
"This is about the children," he said. "I don’t want my kids out on the street or playing video games. But if they get bored being in the outdoors, that’s what they might do."
The concerns of the alliance stem specifically from a decreasing number of deer killed in the George Washington National Forest. According to the game department, 1,050 deer were killed on national forest land in 2000. Last year, 656 were killed, a 38 percent decrease.
"I don’t want to have to drive to Kentucky to get a nice white-tailed deer," Mongold said. "We’re losing tax dollars if no one comes to the state to hunt."
Myron Reedy, co-founder of the Shenandoah Sportsmen’s Alliance, said Rockingham County needs a group dedicated to improving the habitat for deer.
"It’s a shame to not have enough deer in the forest for hunting," he said. "Hopefully this group will be able to figure out some corrective changes."
For the last five years, the number of deer killed during hunting in Rockingham County has declined. According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 5,536 deer were killed in 2000, compared to 4,085 killed in 2005, a 26 percent decrease.
Rodney Mongold, another co-founder of the alliance, worries that future generations will become bored with the outdoors if there is nothing to hunt.
"This is about the children," he said. "I don’t want my kids out on the street or playing video games. But if they get bored being in the outdoors, that’s what they might do."
The concerns of the alliance stem specifically from a decreasing number of deer killed in the George Washington National Forest. According to the game department, 1,050 deer were killed on national forest land in 2000. Last year, 656 were killed, a 38 percent decrease.
"I don’t want to have to drive to Kentucky to get a nice white-tailed deer," Mongold said. "We’re losing tax dollars if no one comes to the state to hunt."
Sunday, May 07, 2006
MINNESOTA NEWS: Deer descimate state Scientific & Natural Area
The Department of Natural Resources is proposing a deer kill on an island in Pokegama Lake, where deer have been decimating a rare evergreen bush.
Canadian yew once covered vast areas of Minnesota's northern hardwood forests, but in recent years only a few scraggly stems of the shrubs are found spread across the region.
Logging and clearing for homes left yew shrubs in many area exposed to direct sunlight, which they can't tolerate. On top of that, deer consider yews a delicacy.
A dramatic increase in Minnesota's deer herd has resulted in a further decline in Canadian yew bushes.
In 1992, many yew were found on 28-acre Chisholm Point Island in Cohasset. Old-growth maples shaded the ground, and big yew - in some places as tall as a person - covered nearly half the island.
The state purchased the island and designated it as a state Scientific and Natural Area in 2002.
But deer discovered the yew two years later, when they began wading out to the island and crossing over ice for the first time in memory.
"Back in the 1980s, there were spots so thick with yew that you couldn't walk through it. It was like a rain forest," said Randy McCarty, who lives on the lake near the island. "Now, there are deer trails everywhere where there weren't any.... There are places where the yew is literally gone, wiped out."
Steve Wilson, Scientific and Natural Area specialist for the DNR in northern Minnesota, visited the island in January and discovered deer were decimating the remaining yew. He knew he needed to take action.
"It's amazing how fast it's happened. When I went back this winter, it was much worse than last summer," Wilson said. "If we don't do something right now, we're going to lose it all."
The DNR plans to build fencing around some remaining stands of yew this summer, and plans are in the works to allow bow hunters to kill deer on the island this fall.
The DNR holds a public hearing Tuesday on the deer-hunting plan.
If a public deer hunt doesn't trim herd numbers, the DNR may move to a more intensive special-permit hunt in 2007. The DNR also may allow hunters to shoot more deer in a broader area around Pokegama Lake.
As a last resort, sharpshooters may be called in to trim deer that are frequenting the island, especially during the winter.
Wilson said the effort to save the yew isn't just an ecological issue.
"Remember that it's the related (Pacific) yew that gave us Taxol," Wilson said of the now-famous chemotherapy drug. "We don't want to lose something and then discover what it might have given us."
"If we don't do something right now, we're going to lose it all."
Canadian yew once covered vast areas of Minnesota's northern hardwood forests, but in recent years only a few scraggly stems of the shrubs are found spread across the region.
Logging and clearing for homes left yew shrubs in many area exposed to direct sunlight, which they can't tolerate. On top of that, deer consider yews a delicacy.
A dramatic increase in Minnesota's deer herd has resulted in a further decline in Canadian yew bushes.
In 1992, many yew were found on 28-acre Chisholm Point Island in Cohasset. Old-growth maples shaded the ground, and big yew - in some places as tall as a person - covered nearly half the island.
The state purchased the island and designated it as a state Scientific and Natural Area in 2002.
But deer discovered the yew two years later, when they began wading out to the island and crossing over ice for the first time in memory.
"Back in the 1980s, there were spots so thick with yew that you couldn't walk through it. It was like a rain forest," said Randy McCarty, who lives on the lake near the island. "Now, there are deer trails everywhere where there weren't any.... There are places where the yew is literally gone, wiped out."
Steve Wilson, Scientific and Natural Area specialist for the DNR in northern Minnesota, visited the island in January and discovered deer were decimating the remaining yew. He knew he needed to take action.
"It's amazing how fast it's happened. When I went back this winter, it was much worse than last summer," Wilson said. "If we don't do something right now, we're going to lose it all."
The DNR plans to build fencing around some remaining stands of yew this summer, and plans are in the works to allow bow hunters to kill deer on the island this fall.
The DNR holds a public hearing Tuesday on the deer-hunting plan.
If a public deer hunt doesn't trim herd numbers, the DNR may move to a more intensive special-permit hunt in 2007. The DNR also may allow hunters to shoot more deer in a broader area around Pokegama Lake.
As a last resort, sharpshooters may be called in to trim deer that are frequenting the island, especially during the winter.
Wilson said the effort to save the yew isn't just an ecological issue.
"Remember that it's the related (Pacific) yew that gave us Taxol," Wilson said of the now-famous chemotherapy drug. "We don't want to lose something and then discover what it might have given us."
"If we don't do something right now, we're going to lose it all."
Friday, May 05, 2006
MARYLAND NEWS: Deer SWAT teams in suburban Washington DC
Excerpt from today's Washington Post
"It might sound strange to think of deer SWAT teams in the suburbs," said Norman, 50, a soft-spoken pastor with wire-rimmed glasses. "But if we don't do something pretty soon the deer will be stampeding down the streets."
Desperate to control exploding deer populations, some Washington area communities have turned in recent years to organized hunts -- often by recreational hunters -- to thin the herds. Now they are relying more and more on sharpshooters and police SWAT teams to hunt the animals even in some densely populated neighborhoods.
The District and Fairfax and Montgomery counties --not to mention private citizens -- have hired professional sharpshooters to kill the animals.
Even in an area where development often collides with nature, the rise of the suburban sharpshooter stands out as problematic. But deer control experts say the use of sharpshooters is often a safer or most efficient way to reduce the number of animals in densely populated residential areas.
Earl Hodnett, Fairfax County's wildlife biologist, said the county realized in 1998 that it had to take drastic steps when it found as many as 400 deer per square mile in some parks, more than 20 times the ecologically desirable level. Members of the police SWAT team have been assigned to hunt deer, shooting from the back of an olive drab pickup truck in parks near homes in such places as Great Falls and Clifton.
In Montgomery, which also uses police tactical officers as deer sharpshooters, the number of deer killed in organized hunts in county parks has skyrocketed from 19 in 1999, the year the program began, to 535 this year.
"It might sound strange to think of deer SWAT teams in the suburbs," said Norman, 50, a soft-spoken pastor with wire-rimmed glasses. "But if we don't do something pretty soon the deer will be stampeding down the streets."
Desperate to control exploding deer populations, some Washington area communities have turned in recent years to organized hunts -- often by recreational hunters -- to thin the herds. Now they are relying more and more on sharpshooters and police SWAT teams to hunt the animals even in some densely populated neighborhoods.
The District and Fairfax and Montgomery counties --not to mention private citizens -- have hired professional sharpshooters to kill the animals.
Even in an area where development often collides with nature, the rise of the suburban sharpshooter stands out as problematic. But deer control experts say the use of sharpshooters is often a safer or most efficient way to reduce the number of animals in densely populated residential areas.
Earl Hodnett, Fairfax County's wildlife biologist, said the county realized in 1998 that it had to take drastic steps when it found as many as 400 deer per square mile in some parks, more than 20 times the ecologically desirable level. Members of the police SWAT team have been assigned to hunt deer, shooting from the back of an olive drab pickup truck in parks near homes in such places as Great Falls and Clifton.
In Montgomery, which also uses police tactical officers as deer sharpshooters, the number of deer killed in organized hunts in county parks has skyrocketed from 19 in 1999, the year the program began, to 535 this year.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
ILLINOIS NEWS: Special hunt at rest area includes bucks, helps migratory birds
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will hold a special deer hunt during the 2006 firearm season at the Baldwin Lake Rest Area, but with a couple of changes.
"This year, permittees will be able to purchase an additional either-sex permit at the site office after they have harvested an antlerless deer on the rest area," said Mic Middleton, site superintendent. "In the past, only antlerless deer could be taken.
The changes are necessary to manage the deer herd in and around the rest area, according to Brian Mahan, IDNR district wildlife biologist.
"The number of deer is making it difficult to maintain the food available for migrating and resident waterfowl," Mahan said. "We believe hunter interest and deer harvest will increase by offering the chance to take a nice buck, a lot of which frequent the rest area."
"This year, permittees will be able to purchase an additional either-sex permit at the site office after they have harvested an antlerless deer on the rest area," said Mic Middleton, site superintendent. "In the past, only antlerless deer could be taken.
The changes are necessary to manage the deer herd in and around the rest area, according to Brian Mahan, IDNR district wildlife biologist.
"The number of deer is making it difficult to maintain the food available for migrating and resident waterfowl," Mahan said. "We believe hunter interest and deer harvest will increase by offering the chance to take a nice buck, a lot of which frequent the rest area."
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
NORTH DAKOTA NEWS: Captive Deer Escape, Wild Deer at Risk
Eleven captive white-tailed deer escaped from a landowner's enclosure south of Bismarck over the weekend, leading to concerns about the potential spread of disease among wild deer inhabiting MacLean Bottoms.
State veterinarian Susan Keller alerted North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists about the escape by an e-mail sent on Monday.
"(One) of the deer has returned," Keller wrote in the e-mail. "The owner has ordered CWD sample cups by overnight air and hopes to be able to destroy the escaped deer and test them for CWD."
Keller and deputy state veterinarian Beth Carlson were attending meetings on Tuesday and were not available for comment.
Keller's e-mail identified the landowner as Gerald Landsberger.
"I'm trying to find the problem," he said Tuesday. "It was caused by a stray dog, and I'm trying to find the owner. If word gets out, nobody will 'fess up."
Asked how many whitetails still were missing, he said, "I have nothing else to say at this time."
The concern is having deer that have been confined get loose and mix with wild deer. "That's why the Board of Animal Health has regulations regarding that," said Bill Jensen, a NDGFD big-game biologist.
"Those deer are in a prime river bottom area. It's scary when penned deer mingle with wild deer, especially in an area where we have a pretty high deer density," said Jeb Williams, NDGFD outreach biologist.
Chronic wasting disease is just one concern.
"There are so many unknowns," Williams said.
Ten of the captive deer have small tags in their ears, and one doe has a large white dangle tag in the ear, Keller wrote in her e-mail.
Under current Board of Animal Health policies, the owner of the loose deer has 10 days to recover them, said Greg Link, NDGFD assistant wildlife division chief, who also sits on the nontraditional livestock advisory council.
After that, the Board of Animal Health notifies NDGFD or USDA Wildlife Services that the 10 days are up, and "if you see these deer with the ear tags, dispatch them," Link explained. Tissue samples for CWD testing are taken from any of the deer that are found and killed.
There is no fine unless the owner was not in compliance, Link added.
State veterinarian Susan Keller alerted North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists about the escape by an e-mail sent on Monday.
"(One) of the deer has returned," Keller wrote in the e-mail. "The owner has ordered CWD sample cups by overnight air and hopes to be able to destroy the escaped deer and test them for CWD."
Keller and deputy state veterinarian Beth Carlson were attending meetings on Tuesday and were not available for comment.
Keller's e-mail identified the landowner as Gerald Landsberger.
"I'm trying to find the problem," he said Tuesday. "It was caused by a stray dog, and I'm trying to find the owner. If word gets out, nobody will 'fess up."
Asked how many whitetails still were missing, he said, "I have nothing else to say at this time."
The concern is having deer that have been confined get loose and mix with wild deer. "That's why the Board of Animal Health has regulations regarding that," said Bill Jensen, a NDGFD big-game biologist.
"Those deer are in a prime river bottom area. It's scary when penned deer mingle with wild deer, especially in an area where we have a pretty high deer density," said Jeb Williams, NDGFD outreach biologist.
Chronic wasting disease is just one concern.
"There are so many unknowns," Williams said.
Ten of the captive deer have small tags in their ears, and one doe has a large white dangle tag in the ear, Keller wrote in her e-mail.
Under current Board of Animal Health policies, the owner of the loose deer has 10 days to recover them, said Greg Link, NDGFD assistant wildlife division chief, who also sits on the nontraditional livestock advisory council.
After that, the Board of Animal Health notifies NDGFD or USDA Wildlife Services that the 10 days are up, and "if you see these deer with the ear tags, dispatch them," Link explained. Tissue samples for CWD testing are taken from any of the deer that are found and killed.
There is no fine unless the owner was not in compliance, Link added.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
NEW JERSEY NEWS: Hunting controversy at National Wildlife Refuge
If deer hunting was outlawed at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the 8,000-acre site would be a harsh, deforested place for many creatures. Deer hunting is vital to the health of the 8,000 acres in the southeast Morris County, said refuge manager William Koch.
So, while he couldn't comment on the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance effort to block a lawsuit that seeks to ban hunting on some other refuges, Great Swamp manager William Koch is quick to praise the efforts of hunters at Great Swamp.
"Deer can have a very negative impact on the habitat, which is not only habitat for deer but also for many other species," he said.
In a lawsuit, The Fund for Animals/Humane Society of the United States asserts the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot allow hunting on 37 wildlife refuges without first creating an environmental impact statement (EIS) for each site. This would entail embarking on expensive and lengthy studies the Sportsmen's Alliance argues are unnecessary and not required by law.
"In simplest terms, Congress ... expressly recognized the legitimacy of hunting on units of the (refuge system) and directed the (Fish and Wildlife Service) to facilitate and increase these opportunities whenever they are determined to be compatible," says an Alliance motion. It asks a federal judge to dismiss the Fund for Animals/Humane Society lawsuit.
Koch said specific rules are followed by each refuge's management when it comes to allowing hunting. "There is a set process for opening areas to hunting that might include an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement," he said. "Each specific refuge has a purpose, and it has goals and objectives on how it's going to achieve those goals. Hunting could enter into it, as it does here at Great Swamp, where deer hunting is a management tool."
Forcing each refuge to write an EIS might not satisfy the Humane Society's desire to ban hunting on wildlife refuges. Since hunting is widely considered the most effective way of controlling deer, the environmental impact of banning hunting could be terrible.
He said Great Swamp's main purpose is to provide habitat for migrating waterfowl. Because of that waterfowl hunting isn't allowed. "This isn't a large refuge," said Koch. "If we put waterfowl hunters out there, these birds wouldn't have much resting and feeding. A few would be harvested by hunters, but the rest would be chased out."
Hungry, overpopulated deer herds are another story. "Exotic, invasive species of plants tend to take over where deer eliminate the natural understory (of plants)," said Koch. "That's a very undesirable situation. It sets the stage for the invasive plants to move in and take over."
Nevertheless, the Humane Society refers to such habitat-centered arguments for deer hunting as "plausible, but not necessarily true." So bring on the deer deforestation, because -- even if the observations of guys like Koch are valid -- the Society still insists hunting "is fundamentally at odds with the values of a humane, just and caring society."
So, while he couldn't comment on the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance effort to block a lawsuit that seeks to ban hunting on some other refuges, Great Swamp manager William Koch is quick to praise the efforts of hunters at Great Swamp.
"Deer can have a very negative impact on the habitat, which is not only habitat for deer but also for many other species," he said.
In a lawsuit, The Fund for Animals/Humane Society of the United States asserts the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot allow hunting on 37 wildlife refuges without first creating an environmental impact statement (EIS) for each site. This would entail embarking on expensive and lengthy studies the Sportsmen's Alliance argues are unnecessary and not required by law.
"In simplest terms, Congress ... expressly recognized the legitimacy of hunting on units of the (refuge system) and directed the (Fish and Wildlife Service) to facilitate and increase these opportunities whenever they are determined to be compatible," says an Alliance motion. It asks a federal judge to dismiss the Fund for Animals/Humane Society lawsuit.
Koch said specific rules are followed by each refuge's management when it comes to allowing hunting. "There is a set process for opening areas to hunting that might include an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement," he said. "Each specific refuge has a purpose, and it has goals and objectives on how it's going to achieve those goals. Hunting could enter into it, as it does here at Great Swamp, where deer hunting is a management tool."
Forcing each refuge to write an EIS might not satisfy the Humane Society's desire to ban hunting on wildlife refuges. Since hunting is widely considered the most effective way of controlling deer, the environmental impact of banning hunting could be terrible.
He said Great Swamp's main purpose is to provide habitat for migrating waterfowl. Because of that waterfowl hunting isn't allowed. "This isn't a large refuge," said Koch. "If we put waterfowl hunters out there, these birds wouldn't have much resting and feeding. A few would be harvested by hunters, but the rest would be chased out."
Hungry, overpopulated deer herds are another story. "Exotic, invasive species of plants tend to take over where deer eliminate the natural understory (of plants)," said Koch. "That's a very undesirable situation. It sets the stage for the invasive plants to move in and take over."
Nevertheless, the Humane Society refers to such habitat-centered arguments for deer hunting as "plausible, but not necessarily true." So bring on the deer deforestation, because -- even if the observations of guys like Koch are valid -- the Society still insists hunting "is fundamentally at odds with the values of a humane, just and caring society."
Monday, May 01, 2006
WEST VIRGINIA NEWS: Four more cases of CWD
Preliminary testing has detected the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) agent in four more free-ranging white-tailed deer recently collected in Hampshire County as part of an ongoing and intensive CWD surveillance effort, it was announced by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR). This brings the total of CWD-positive deer found in Hampshire County since last fall to nine. These most recent samples were collected in March and April by DNR's deer collection teams working in Hampshire County. The CWD laboratory testing was conducted by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, which is located at the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine in Athens, Georgia.
When CWD was first confirmed last September in Hampshire County, DNR immediately implemented its CWD - Incident Response Plan. As part of that plan, DNR has been engaged in intensive CWD surveillance efforts designed to determine the distribution and prevalence of the disease. From September 2005 through April 2006, a total of 1,317 Hampshire County deer was tested for CWD. These samples consisted of 1,016 hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2005 fall hunting season, 216 deer collected by DNR in the fall of 2005, and 85 additional deer most recently collected by DNR in 2006. CWD was not detected in any of the hunter-harvested deer collected last fall. Four of the 216 deer collected by DNR in the fall of 2005 were confirmed to have the CWD agent, and now, preliminary tests indicate that 4 of the 85 deer collected by DNR in 2006 have the CWD agent. The disease has now been detected in a total of 9 deer in Hampshire County (i.e., 1 road-killed deer, 4 deer collected by the DNR in 2005 and 4 deer collected by the DNR in 2006).
"Analysis of this initial CWD surveillance data indicates the disease appears to be found in a relatively small geographical area located near Slanesville, West Virginia," noted DNR Director Frank Jezioro. "From a wildlife disease management perspective, we consider this to be encouraging news. Based upon these CWD surveillance findings, we are taking the steps necessary to implement appropriate management actions designed to control the spread of this disease, prevent further introduction of the disease, and possibly eliminate the disease from the state," Jezioro said.
The following disease management options are being evaluated by the DNR for use within the affected area of Hampshire County:
* Lower deer population levels to reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer by implementing appropriate antlerless deer hunting regulations designed to increase hunter opportunity to harvest female deer;
* Establish reasonable, responsible and appropriate deer carcass transport restrictions designed to lower the risk of moving the disease to other locations;
* Establish reasonable, responsible and appropriate regulations relating to the feeding and baiting of deer within the affected area to reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
"Landowner cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been just terrific," Jezioro noted. "As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the support and involvement of landowners and hunters will continue to be essential. DNR remains committed to keeping the public informed and involved in these wildlife disease management actions."
CWD is a neurological disease found in deer and elk, and it belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in Colorado, and it subsequently has been found in captive deer and elk herds in nine states and two Canadian provinces and in free-ranging deer and elk in 11 states and two provinces. In 2005 the disease was found as far east as New York and West Virginia.
More information on CWD can be found at the DNR's Web site: www.wvdnr.gov and the CWD Alliance website: www.cwd-info.org
When CWD was first confirmed last September in Hampshire County, DNR immediately implemented its CWD - Incident Response Plan. As part of that plan, DNR has been engaged in intensive CWD surveillance efforts designed to determine the distribution and prevalence of the disease. From September 2005 through April 2006, a total of 1,317 Hampshire County deer was tested for CWD. These samples consisted of 1,016 hunter-harvested deer taken during the 2005 fall hunting season, 216 deer collected by DNR in the fall of 2005, and 85 additional deer most recently collected by DNR in 2006. CWD was not detected in any of the hunter-harvested deer collected last fall. Four of the 216 deer collected by DNR in the fall of 2005 were confirmed to have the CWD agent, and now, preliminary tests indicate that 4 of the 85 deer collected by DNR in 2006 have the CWD agent. The disease has now been detected in a total of 9 deer in Hampshire County (i.e., 1 road-killed deer, 4 deer collected by the DNR in 2005 and 4 deer collected by the DNR in 2006).
"Analysis of this initial CWD surveillance data indicates the disease appears to be found in a relatively small geographical area located near Slanesville, West Virginia," noted DNR Director Frank Jezioro. "From a wildlife disease management perspective, we consider this to be encouraging news. Based upon these CWD surveillance findings, we are taking the steps necessary to implement appropriate management actions designed to control the spread of this disease, prevent further introduction of the disease, and possibly eliminate the disease from the state," Jezioro said.
The following disease management options are being evaluated by the DNR for use within the affected area of Hampshire County:
* Lower deer population levels to reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer by implementing appropriate antlerless deer hunting regulations designed to increase hunter opportunity to harvest female deer;
* Establish reasonable, responsible and appropriate deer carcass transport restrictions designed to lower the risk of moving the disease to other locations;
* Establish reasonable, responsible and appropriate regulations relating to the feeding and baiting of deer within the affected area to reduce the risk of spreading the disease from deer to deer.
"Landowner cooperation throughout this entire CWD surveillance effort in Hampshire County has been just terrific," Jezioro noted. "As we strive to meet this wildlife disease challenge and implement appropriate management strategies, the support and involvement of landowners and hunters will continue to be essential. DNR remains committed to keeping the public informed and involved in these wildlife disease management actions."
CWD is a neurological disease found in deer and elk, and it belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
CWD was first recognized in 1967 in Colorado, and it subsequently has been found in captive deer and elk herds in nine states and two Canadian provinces and in free-ranging deer and elk in 11 states and two provinces. In 2005 the disease was found as far east as New York and West Virginia.
More information on CWD can be found at the DNR's Web site: www.wvdnr.gov and the CWD Alliance website: www.cwd-info.org
Thursday, April 27, 2006
BRITISH COLUMBIA NEWS: Deer population rising, more drivers crashing
If you think you are seeing more deer in the area, you are probably right.
The RCMP say there is an increase in the deer population, which in turn means an increase in vehicle collisions with the deer.
Over the past three years there has been an increase in the number of motor vehicles collisions reported to the RCMP involving a wild animal, said Cpl. Mel Callander in a press release. Most of these collisions are with deer and occur on the Highway 97 corridor and Highway 20.
There were 75 collisions on these highways in 2003, 79 in 2004 and 102 in 2005. Mild winters, no disease and fewer predators have caused the increase in the deer population throughout the Cariboo Chilcotin region, said Callander.
Motorists are reminded that springtime is the season for collisions with wild animals and most occur at dawn or dusk when the deer are feeding alongside the roadways. Motorists should be driving accordingly by slowing down so they have more time to react to these wild animals.
There has been a change in the Motor Vehicle Act regarding reporting collisions with wild animals. Currently if you are in a collision with damage over $1000, the Motor Vehicle Act requires the driver to report the incident to the police within 48 hours if the collision occurred outside a city or municipality.
The officer in charge of E division traffic services has given direction to the RCMP detachments that they will no longer be required to investigate or report motor vehicle collisions involving wild animals. Motorists are to report directly to ICBC when filling a claim involving a collision with a wild animal unless there are injuries to the occupants of the vehicle, said Callander. This will give the officers more time to be strategically focused on their detachment and unit priorities.
The RCMP say there is an increase in the deer population, which in turn means an increase in vehicle collisions with the deer.
Over the past three years there has been an increase in the number of motor vehicles collisions reported to the RCMP involving a wild animal, said Cpl. Mel Callander in a press release. Most of these collisions are with deer and occur on the Highway 97 corridor and Highway 20.
There were 75 collisions on these highways in 2003, 79 in 2004 and 102 in 2005. Mild winters, no disease and fewer predators have caused the increase in the deer population throughout the Cariboo Chilcotin region, said Callander.
Motorists are reminded that springtime is the season for collisions with wild animals and most occur at dawn or dusk when the deer are feeding alongside the roadways. Motorists should be driving accordingly by slowing down so they have more time to react to these wild animals.
There has been a change in the Motor Vehicle Act regarding reporting collisions with wild animals. Currently if you are in a collision with damage over $1000, the Motor Vehicle Act requires the driver to report the incident to the police within 48 hours if the collision occurred outside a city or municipality.
The officer in charge of E division traffic services has given direction to the RCMP detachments that they will no longer be required to investigate or report motor vehicle collisions involving wild animals. Motorists are to report directly to ICBC when filling a claim involving a collision with a wild animal unless there are injuries to the occupants of the vehicle, said Callander. This will give the officers more time to be strategically focused on their detachment and unit priorities.
WISCONSIN NEWS: Deer population grows in CWD Eradication Zone
There has been a setback in the fight against chronic wasting disease in the state's deer population. Despite an aggressive effort to control the disease in a 210-square-mile area of Dane and Iowa Counties, the deer population has actually increased.
The Department of Natural Resources has lengthened hunting seasons in that region and loosened bag limits in an effort to kill more deer over the past four years.
DNR officials briefing members of the Natural Resources Board in Stevens Point, say aerial counts show the number of deer per square mile increased from 23 last year to 33 this year.
DNR coordinator Alan Crossley says they haven't been able to figure out a reasonable strategy for combating CWD, but he says the DNR is still committed to its policy for controlling the disease.
The Department of Natural Resources has lengthened hunting seasons in that region and loosened bag limits in an effort to kill more deer over the past four years.
DNR officials briefing members of the Natural Resources Board in Stevens Point, say aerial counts show the number of deer per square mile increased from 23 last year to 33 this year.
DNR coordinator Alan Crossley says they haven't been able to figure out a reasonable strategy for combating CWD, but he says the DNR is still committed to its policy for controlling the disease.
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