NY TIMES
Editorial 12/2/02
Bambi’s Mother in the Cross Hairs

Very few people like the idea of shooting Bambi’s mother. But there may be
no better way to slow the rapid expansion of deer populations that are
devastating ecosystems in many areas of the country.

At least 20 million white-tailed deer are ranging the nation at the moment,
a huge jump from only 500,000 in 1900, according to a recent report by
Andrew C. Revkin in The Times. They plunder farm crops and alter the
ecology of forests by eating the low-lying vegetation and destroying the
seedlings needed for new growth. In the process, they displace many smaller
animals from their habitat. Deer also plunder suburban gardens, help spread
Lyme and livestock diseases, and cause an astonishing number of highway
accidents. Each year more than a million deer are hit by vehicles, and
while the deer are the biggest losers, the accidents kill more than 100
people and cost more than $1 billion for repairs.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to control a fast-growing population of
animals that have few natural predators in most of the range they inhabit.
The option preferred by many animal welfare groups – birth control darts or
oral contraceptives – may work in self-contained environments like islands
but are less effective when deer can roam freely. Sharpshooters have culled
the deer in some localities, but they are often unwelcome in crowded
neighborhoods. Capturing and moving the deer can be expensive and very
stressful for the animals, who often die shortly after release. High fences
and repellents can keep the deer out of specific properties but are
impractical over large areas. Poisons and germs are too indiscriminate.
Large predators like wolves might help stabilize the deer population, but
most citizens would not regard importing such beasts as a good tradeoff.

Hunting seems like the best option in rural areas. It is certainly the most
cost-effective method of deer control, since the hunters provide their
labor free. Ideally, hunters should be encouraged to kill does rather than
bucks, despite the resistance from those hoping for an antlered trophy. New
Jersey has slowly cut its deer population to some 150,000 to 170,000
animals, wildlife officials say, largely by changing its hunting rules to
allow more deer to be shot and to promote the shooting of does.

New York is home to more than a million deer, probably double the number a
decade and a half ago. Although the state offers incentives to shoot
females, deer have reached nuisance densities in many parts of the lower
Hudson Valley and western New York. State experts estimate that in those
areas, 40 percent of the adult does would have to be killed each year to
keep deer numbers from continuing to explode.

In rural or forested areas, if the damage becomes too great, hunting of
does will need to be expanded. But in suburban communities where hunting
may be too dangerous, the answers are less obvious, and people who regard
deer as very large vermin are pitted against those who admire these
graceful wild creatures and feel humans should simply adjust. Concern over
more traffic accidents and Lyme disease is pitted against the specter of
hired marksmen piling up the bodies of surplus does. Neither alternative is
desirable, but as the deer population continues to explode, suburban
residents may have to opt for one or the other.