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Email on deer population from Jean Laurin December 12/03
Deer Patrol
Owen Hutchins got one thing right ("Deer Park," Mailbag, Sept. 25) although I doubt it was a surprise to most Philadelphians. Yes, Fairmount Park is the largest urban park in the U.S.A. To set the record straight, there are also no predators in Tyler or Ridley Creek parks. Despite the fact that hunters have been allowed to kill deer for many years in both parks, the herds have not been controlled by this ineffective lethal method. Contraception does work. The National Park Service is using deer contraception on Fire Island National Seashore near New York  (http://www.fairharbor.com/fhca/ca2206deerimmuno.htm)  and has reported a marked reduction in the island's deer population. In an urban area near Washington, DC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is using deer contraception at its 575-acre campus. Deer contraception is permitted by the Food and Drug Administration and is available for use. It's currently used in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Ohio.
        Trapping was not a consideration. The method used to assess the deer population in the Wissahickon and the numbers quoted are questionable. Pennsylvania has the highest rate of auto/deer collision in the country. It was rated the leading state in 1997 permitting deer hunting (and has consistently been first or second). Killing deer does not prevent auto/deer collisions. Warning signs, street lights and appropriate fencing are effective protective measures.
         Finally, Lyme disease is caused by an organism in the deer tick and many wildlife species carry the larva and nymph stages of the tick. The deer are not the only host and are not responsible for Lyme disease. Some of the problems in the Wissahickon are due to improper plantings, insect infestation, acid rain and human arrogance.
Jean Lauren, Levittown
SOURCE: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/100198/mail.shtml
______________________________________________________________
Q: DEER CONTRACEPTION IS NOT REALLY AN OPTION, IS IT?
A: With the vast surge in immunocontraceptive technology over the past few years, the deer contraceptive dart known as porcine zona pellucida (PZP) is a viable option for communities. The contraceptive, when injected into female deer, stops them from reproducing for one to two years. The National Park Service tested PZP on Fire Island National Seashore off the coast of Long Island and reported a 95% success rate.29 The National Institute of Standards and Technology is now using PZP at its 575-acre campus in suburban Maryland resulting in a marked decrease in births due to the vaccine. PZP trials by the Humane Society of the United States have proven 95% successful in blocking pregnancies for one year in white-tailed deer in parts of the United States.30 If wildlife agencies did not spend billions of dollars on hunter education, enforcement of hunting regulations, and other hunting-related activities, that money could be better spent on more immunocontraceptive research.
SOURCE: www.fund.org/library/documentViewer.asp?ID=261&table=documents

Bowhunting letter sent to the Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2003

As Brendan Miller described in his article of October 30, modern bows can scarcely be classified as primitive weapons even though they make it more difficult to kill.
Because they are an extremely inefficient method of killing, the main purpose seems to be more to give hunters more days afield than to cull the deer population. Several
statements in the article substantiate this:

"I've watched my arrow fly straight for its mark only to have it sent careening off at a 90 degree angle by a nearly invisible twig."

"Even a clear shot can result in a miss" as deer react to the sound of the bowstring.

Out of three million bowhunters "relatively few will bag their game".

To argue that being struck with an arrow is "a more humane death for the animal than starvation from overpopulation or death by minivan on the highway" ignores studies showing that over half the deer struck by arrows are never recovered.  If they don't die from loss of blood within a few hours, they are most likely to succumb to infection weeks or months later. During this time they must negotiate woods and weedy
field margins with arrows sticking out of them. State game departments advise hunters to wait at least half an hour before starting to track a wounded deer in order to give it time to die or at least weaken from loss of blood.

Incidentally, what most people consider deer overpopulation is the direct result of hunting regulations providing for more males to be killed so that more does survive to produce more fawns in the spring. Known as "scientific game management,"
this is done to please hunters and sell more hunting licenses. The artificially large population, allbeit combined with habitat loss to human development, has caused deer to consume more farm crops and even move into villages and cities where they
destroy gardens and valuable ornamental plantings to say nothing of more expensive deer/car collisions. In addition, the longer seasons make the outdoors less safe for outdoor workers and other outdoor recreationists.                      Bina Robinson                                                                                                     
                                                                                                     CIVITAS, Swain NY

Letter on pheasant stocking
The following letter is not about population control so much as the inanity of creating a population of non-native animals for hunters' amusement.

Editor Union Leader:
        I read with interest the column by Mr. Pacelle concerning pheasant hunting.
Especially as I am a former pheasant hunter myself.
         Among the reasons I stopped are those cited in the column. Pheasant hunting
is really not a sport, as it does not involve the true concept of fair chase. How can it when the quarry is a farm raised animal with almost no natural instincts? It has become akin to shooting pigeons in a local park. The term "put and take" should be changed to "stock and slaughter".
        I live near a farm that is part of my state's pheasant stocking program. There
are dozens of these hand raised birds released locally every year. Within weeks they are gone, often via predation, starvation, exposure, and even being hit with automobiles. Yes, pheasants do get hit by cars. They do not understand what vehicles are and will stand in the middle of the road and get hit.
        There have also been reports of children literally stoning the birds to death, that is how tame they are.  This has less to do with hunting than it does with taxpayer financed animal cruelty. It is time to abolish these programs nationwide and redirect the money, as well as other resources, to true conservation efforts involving native,
non-game species   David Kveragas  Newton Township, PA

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