To the editor:
Enough culling! We chose our home east of Fayetteville along Route 5 because of the abundant wildlife. We enjoyed the deer that used to live in the woods near us and knowingly planted flowers or bushes that they generally didn’t eat. After hearing gunshots at night again this year, we now don’t see a single deer.
The mayor describes the culling as “the right thing to do for the well-being of our residents.” I disagree.
There are many studies proving that small mammals, not deer, spread the majority of ticks causing Lyme Disease. (Mouse traps, anyone?) The Kilpatrick study that the village leans on is not relevant to this. Education regarding ticks would be far less expensive than shooting deer.
If drivers obeyed the speed limit and/or stopped texting, they could better see the deer in advance of their crossing the road. There has been a reduction of deer/car collisions, but I note that only “percentages” of decline are given, not numbers.
Our homes are built where deer have lived for centuries. There is no one in the village whose welfare depends on their plantings. Thus, why kill over 150 deer so residents can enjoy their tulips, hostas or whatever?
Deer may actually be beneficial to the local plantings. Following a culling of deer in Presqu’ile Provincial Park in southeastern Ontario, it was noted that without deer to eat the non-native bushes, these unwanted plants proliferated.
Giving the venison to the food bank does not negate the killing of relatively harmless animals. There are not enough scientific, sensible reasons to continue this. Let’s stop.
Ruth Buchanan
Fayetteville
