Protesters Say Deer Management Program 'Not Working'
Demand a stop to deer culling in reservations
Roughly a dozen residents stood along Northfield Avenue in West Orange Sunday afternoon to demand the deer culling program come to an end.
The Essex County-run program, now in its fifth year, aims to curb the deer population by allowing licensed hunters to cull deer inside the county reservations.
Merrilee Cichy, an organizer with K.L.I.P (Keep Life in the Park) led the two-hour protest outside the Codey Arena, claiming that the deer management program was "not working" and actually causing the population to grow.
"After the hunt, the surviving deer will have more territory and more food sources and the females will have twins and sometimes even triplets in the spring because of the new food sources," Cichy told Patch.
In a press conference earlier this month, county officials outlined plans for the deer hunt that begun Jan. 17 and runs through Feb. 23. Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said the program was not only meant to control the number of deer, but also restore the eroding reservations.
Cichy, though, countered that the loss of undergrowth is being caused by multiple factors and that eliminating deer is not the solution, "Nothing is ever going to be the way it was 100 years ago, that's just not going to happen. The woods regenerate on their own. I don't think we can force regeneration."
County officials said the program is a three-pronged approach and includes a replanting program, the installation of deer deflectors on the roadways and the hunt.
But, with no limit to the number of deer culled from the reservations, activists braved the cold to demand alternative ways to deal with overpopulation.
"It's hard to publicize how awful hunting is and how unnecessary it is," said Paul Ruderman from Montclair. "It's hard to get people out because they don't see the hunting happen."
Admitting there is an issue with deer overpopulation, Ruderman advocated for more "humane" methods of curbing the number of deer, such as a legal contraception.
"The way they shoot bullets, they can shoot darts ... it would bring down the population much easier without separating baby deer from their moms. It's very upsetting."
Ruderman brought his entire family — children and dog included — to the protest.
His 7-year-old son, Jaden, was holding up a sign he made with his brother that read, "Honk to save the deer." "We don't want the deer to get hurt and die," he told Patch.
Watch the video for more information.
corydickson
6:00 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
Free Samples are offered for a limited time so when they are posted please take advantage of the offer before it is gone. Look online for "Get Official Samples" where I was able to get healthy product samples.
Adam Kraemer
7:16 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
This better answer for the animals the letting cars kill the deer or letting them eat the vegetation down so much that we have soil wash way a destroy the lower part of the forest.
amy wall
8:40 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
Stop over-building and squeezing the wildlife out! We have enough empty homes for purchase. And please...one request to hunters: there's a lame deer in our area (only has 3 hooves) - he/she has a family and they often sleep in my backyard - please don't hurt them. Although I fear the ticks they carry I am always happy to see them.
Kevin
9:22 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm not familiar with what the hunters in NJ do with the deer, but I grew up in Pennsylvania around quite a bit of hunting, and I feel as long as the folks who go out and hunt actually use the deer meat, then it's ok by me. There is a population issue, and unless you're vegan, you're supporting hunting of some kind. Whether it's controlled factory "farming" of animals or fishing or hunting...hunters are probably the most humane out of the food source options.
John P
9:53 am on Monday, January 23, 2012
I applaud Ruderman for taking a stand and teaching his children to value wildlife and to take a stand with him even if it's a cold, snowy day. As a volunteer for the largest wildlife conservation organization in the NY/NJ area, I sympathize with his efforts.
Outside of a hunt, the only other option is fertility control. According to the NJDEP, fertility control is extremely labor intensive and past history resulted in limited success. Past attempts to control deer through immuno-contraception in Princeton Twp. cost the Township $814 per deer.
Believe me, I'm no fan of Joey D and his self promotion on every inch of county property at South Mountain. As an over-taxed resident, I have to side with the county for choosing to manage the deer population with the most effective and economical methods available.
Pete Mock
12:11 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Has the county offered any evidence that this program is actually working? This seems destined to become an annual event, but I don't see a reason to keep spending money every year to do this without proof that its reducing the poplulation.
bbbnto
1:27 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
Is it me, or is the article somewhat contradictory? I'm not talking about the shooting of the dear, I'm talking about the contraceptives.
If you don't cull the deer and use contraceptives, it still means that the deer will still have more territory, won't they? Did I misunderstand the article.
By the way, I don't like the culling activity, and if there were a choice, contraception would be the way to go.
jeanpublic
6:41 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
contraception can reduce a deer herd over time. it is not immediate. and everybody wants immediate these days. the vegetation in south mt areas is being impacted by mankind much more than deer. blaming it on deer is complete and utter fakery. roundup use, which is used at south mt prevents regeneration of vegetation. clima so te change means what used to grow here cant grow here any more. walking your dog chases away birds so that their spreading seeds changes the forest. mature canopy means you dont get new growth. cutting down and logging means you get less seed spread. evapotranspiration has changed in this area. most dont even know what evapotranspiration is tghey just want to blame gods creatures for everything when man is the biggest predator and destroyer. man is overpopulating.
Michele Bleeke
6:57 pm on Monday, January 23, 2012
The deer population should have been controlled by now if this were working. How long will this be going on? I dread reading about it every year. There has to be a better and more effective way. It seems no one wants to listen to alternatives. I've lived in WO for 60 years and we've always had deer. Why is it a problem now when it never was? Maybe we need to stop developing so the animals can live too. After all, doesn't "reservation" mean safe haven? I think the deer would disagree.
Nick Muson
2:30 pm on Tuesday, January 24, 2012
"There has to be a better and more effective way"
"The deer population should have been controlled by now if this were working"
Those are illogical statements. The available options and available funds are not limitless. There are deer, and even the most bloodthirsty among us don't want them all killed, so they will continue to reproduce and overpopulate again. No one thinks a cull will solve anything on a permanent basis -- they are not designed to do so -- so that's a moot point.
The deer's natural predators are GONE, except for one -- us. The natural processes that keep their population in check are GONE, and no hippie-dippy "it's humans and suburbs that are the problems" nonsense will change that one iota. Sometimes the responsible thing to do is not very pleasant. We're not going to be reverting to a pre-industrial landscape anytime soon.