Syracuse.com - DEC provides commonly asked questions (and answers) to the urban deer problem

[HuntingNY-News]

A panel discussion on "Urban Wildlife" is set for Thursday at the Syracuse Media Group's new offices in downtown Syracuse. To attend, contact Janet Barone at 470-2275 or by email at [email protected].

Tom Bugaj 

In preparation for Thursday's panel discussion at the Syracuse Media Group's new offices on "Urban Wildlife," Steve Joule, the DEC's chief wildlife biologist from Region 7, prepared a list of commonly asked questions and answers concerning urban, white-tailed deer.

Q. Can you hunt them?

A: White-tailed deer are classified as a "Game Species," and may be legally taken only by properly licensed persons during open deer hunting seasons or by special permit outside of any open season. Throughout most of New York, and elsewhere in the U.S., regulated hunting is used to help manage deer. Removal of female deer during the hunting season is the most effective and efficient method of reducing the population to more ecologically-balanced levels that lessen the threat of deer-human conflicts often associated with overabundant populations.

(Editor's note: The above statement refers to statewide hunting regulations. However, many municipalities ban the discharge of firearms or shooting of a bow and arrow within the community. In addition, shooting (with a firearm or a bow) is not allowed statewide within 500 feet of an occupied building without the permission of the landowner.)

Q. Should I call animal control?

A. Any control technique that involves the handling of deer requires a state permit. Under ECL 11-0521, in situations where deer are causing damage to property or crops, or have become a human health or safety concern, a permit may be issued to allow landowners to kill deer on their property.

Q. Can you trap them and re-locate them some other place?

A: For a wide variety of reasons, capture and relocation is not considered to be a viable option for population control in NY. Aside from the many practical limitations associated with this strategy (e.g. high monetary cost and few, if any, areas that could benefit from receiving additional deer), Environmental Conservation Laws and concerns about wildlife health preclude permits being issued for capture and relocation of deer, as moving animals can spread disease (including Chronic Wasting Disease) and parasites to the local deer population. Capture and relocation is extremely stressful to deer and the injury and mortality rates associated with the process are often quite high.

In addition, the long term survival of relocated deer is often very low, as they are unfamiliar with their new range, and animals coming from overpopulated areas are often at a disadvantage due to their poor physical condition; up to three-quarters of relocated deer commonly succumb to malnutrition, vehicle collisions, or predation within one year.

Deer that have become habituated to urban/suburban settings will often seek similar locations and may create nuisance problems at the location they were released to. The low probability of achieving any real benefit does not warrant the many risks associated with capture and relocation of deer.

Q. How can I deter them from destroying my plants and getting them off my property?

A: Choosing plants that are less palatable to deer may help minimize damage to ornamental flowers and shrubs. Some common ornamental plants, such as yews and rhododendrons, are highly palatable to deer and rarely escape being damaged even in areas with low deer densities, while other, less palatable plants may only be eaten in areas with overabundant deer populations or during the most severe winters. Where not prohibited by local ordinances, fencing can provide site-specific protection against deer damage. Complete exclusion requires high (10') fencing, which can be expensive to install and maintain. At the community level, fencing typically shifts the problem to unprotected sites, where the damage is, then, often intensified.

Q. Can they be sterilized?

A: Based on considerable research on fertility control (chemical contraception or surgical sterilization) for deer, including several studies sponsored by DEC, this strategy, alone, has not proven to be an effective means of managing free-ranging deer populations in New York. Given the limited effectiveness of fertility control, and its inability to quickly reduce deer-human conflicts, DEC does not recommend such programs unless they are combined with some form of lethal control.

DEC will permit fertility control programs for free-ranging deer only as part of a scientific study designed to further our understanding of the effectiveness and practical application of such methods for manipulating deer populations.

Other pertinent facts:

• The deer population in New York State is estimated to be more than 1 million. There are an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 deer-vehicle collisions in NY annually. In 1990, the cost of deer/ vehicle collisions was estimated at $100 million in Wisconsin.

• Although many people continue to do so, feeding deer is illegal in New York State. For reasons associated with population ecology, as well as human health and safety concerns, wildlife biologists have long-discouraged deer feeding. In 2003, a law prohibiting the practice became necessary in order to help minimize the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). First detected in western states of the U.S. in 2002, CWD is an untreatable and fatal brain and nervous system disease found in deer, elk and moose.

What is wildlife management?

Wildlife management consists of decisions and actions that influence animal population numbers. Deer populations in urban, suburban, or otherwise developed areas present particularly challenging management scenarios because the options available to manipulate population levels may be severely limited. The most basic deer management decision is whether or not to control deer numbers.

As with most important decisions, there are trade-offs associated with choosing not to actively manage how many deer exist in a given area. If deer numbers are not controlled, people must either accept the health, safety, financial, and ecosystem consequences associated with overabundant populations or try to reduce the problems by other means - many of which are costly and may only be minimally effective.

What's the best way, in the DEC's opinion, of controlling deer numbers?

A: Direct removal of deer through hunting (including managed hunts with firearms or archery) or culling (including bait and shoot or capture and kill) is the most efficient and cost-effective way to stabilize or reduce deer populations and alleviate damages to private property and natural resources.

ATTEND THE PANEL DISCUSSION

The Syracuse Media Group (Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard) is holding a panel discussion on the topic of "Urban Wildlife" from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 15) at the Media Group's new "Hub" at 220 Warren Street in downtown Syracuse. The public is invited to attend.

Panelists will include Joule, the DEC's chief wildlife biologist from Region 7; Brian Underwood, a wildlife biologist from U.S. Geological Survey and SUNY ESF and Al LaFrance, a nuisance wildlife removal specialist.

The first half of the meeting will be dedicated to the subject of deer in the city, with the last half being dedicated to other animals.

To attend, contact Janet Barone at 470-2275 or by email at [email protected]. Attendance will be limited to 40 persons.

If you have a question for the panelists and are unable to attend, send your questions to [email protected].

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog