192,000 acres." An Assessment of Deer Hunting in New Jersey Fish and Game also states in their report that they have been receiving crop damage complaints from farmers since 1958, and that they have been using hunting as a "control measure" to relieve the damage. Forty two years is time enough to see how badly they have failed.

his is why we desperately need a new voice on the Fish and Game
Council, and why Stuart Chaifetz is seeking that position. Hunting has never helped farmers, and it never will. The simple truth is that Fish and Game and the Council desire large deer populations for both the profit and recreation gained from deer hunting. This fraudulent structure must be broken before farmers will ever see relief.

The anger that farmers feel for deer is misguided, for deer have not wanted nor have had control over their place in our state. "This past week we again saw a young child pick up a gun and shoot a classmate in anger," states Chaifetz. "We wonder how children could do such a thing, and we blame everything from video games to movies for it. We fail to see our own role in this, for it is the adults who have taught them the bitter lesson that you kill what makes you angry."

Honor and Non-Violence for Animals website:  www.hnva.net

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March 1, 2000
LETTER TO THE EDITOR  with information on Lyme disease
Virginia Anderson's diatribe ("Deer supporter doesn't know the facts," Feb. 28) against Edward Donn was completely inappropriate.  Obviously, she doesn't respect wildlife as many area residents do.

Certainly there are deer-caused auto fatalities, but there are far more auto fatalities caused by human beings who are drunk, sleepy, or on drugs. We don't shoot all the drivers!  Mrs. Anderson should understand that according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most deer/car collisions happen during hunting season. Deer head for the roads when their natural habitat is disturbed
by hunters.  Hunting increases deer/car collisions. On the other hand, Strieter-Lite/Swareflex reflectors have been proven to reduce deer/car collisions from 60% to 100%. (Some financial governmental aid may be available for installation of reflectors.)

For anyone, including Mrs. Anderson, who believes that hunting deer will stop the spread of Lyme disease, I have a Star Ledger article about a three-year study conducted by doctors at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and published recently in The Lancet , the prestigious British medical journal.  I quote, "The single most significant carrier of Lyme disease lurks not in deep, dark forests, but in parks, on farms and even in the tall grass of suburban backyards. That carrier- the one most likely to bring Lyme-infected ticks in contact with human beings-- is not the white-tailed deer, but the white-footed mouse according to doctors at UMDNJ. There is a misconception among most people that deer are the culprit. But no; it's really the mice." (I would like to add that there are products on the market such as Damminix that control the ticks without injuring the mice.)

Even the Morris County Park Commission's Wildlife Advisory Committee once promised to distribute educational material to clear up the misconception that killing deer will stop the spread of Lyme disease. There are those who think that hunting will reduce the number of deer and thereby save their bushes. Hunting only increases the herd. A recent study in Jockey Hollow, where hunting is prohibited, was compared to a study done 10 years ago. The conclusion was that the herd is exactly the same size. On the other hand, in the Great Swamp, where hunting has been going on for nearly 25 years, the herd has more than doubled.                                                                                       

While it is indisputable that hunting removes some animals from the population, it does not keep deer populations at a continually reduced level. The average fall hunting season may remove deer from a population, but surviving deer will have less competition for food and increased nutritional health. Many scientific studies indicate that better-nourished deer have higher productivity, lower neonatal mortality, increased conception rates, and increased pregnancy in yearlings. In hunted populations, does are more likely to have twins than single fawns and are more likely to reproduce at a younger age, thus helping the population grow even faster. One study indicated that "twinning was 38% on hunted land as compared to 14% on non hunted. Since hunting may cause the reproduction rates of a deer population to double or triple, hunting is not a solution to a problem, but a commitment to a permanent problem.

Despite the claim by the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, that hunting reduces deer herd populations, statements acknowledging the contrary are contained within their own 1990 report, An Assessment of Deer Hunting in New Jersey, where examples of deer herds being dramatically increased due to hunting are documented.

As for our verdant woodlands, let's not fool ourselves. They are being destroyed by air pollution and by contractors who build mansion after mansion on tiny lots.  I have lived in this area nearly as long as Virginia Anderson. I can attest to the fact that seeing deer was NOT a rare experience.  Perhaps Mrs. Anderson was searching for them in the wrong spots.  I took my dying mother for a drive every evening so that she
could enjoy the deer. What it all boils down to is that Mr. Donn may indeed know what he is talking about.  How about a little reverence for nature! Seeing a doe and her fawn always puts a smile on my face. In fact, my family and friends think it's the deer that make Morris County a lovely place to live. Moving to New York City will solve anyone's deer
problem.      Sincerely,  Barbara L. Metzler

Posted February 2000
LETTER TO THE EDITOR   Buffalo News November 30, 1990

Why there is deer overpopulation
. . .Most current wildlife management practices are designed to produce game species for the hunter.  A text titled Wildlife Ecology and Management by William Robinson states quite clearly: "The general theory of harvesting animals is based on the premise that when animals are not harvested at all, growth and recruitment are balanced by natural mortality and that the average growth rate of a population at its carrying capacity is zero.  Harvesting reduced the population size, but the reduction results in an increase in the growth rate of the population.  This increase in growth rate is brought about because of higher birth rates and lower death rates resulting from decreased competition for resources. This increased growth rate provides a surplus of individuals above the number required to replace the population, and this surplus can be harvested."

To those who continue to insist on blaming the deer for overpopulating, causing deer/car collisions and crop damage, I strongly suggest you look to the hunters and wildlife managers whose efficient but deadly teamwork is responsible. - Marilyn Bensley

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