Key Points

Lack of good scientific and solid rational forethought.

We contend that the current proposal is not based upon either good science or solid rationale forethought, and will not achieve the goal of reducing human Lyme disease risks, deer population due to new movement/migration patterns, or total amount of vehicle accidents due to deer in our community. Wildlife management is the job of wildlife biologists not politicians. What qualifications do the members of the Deer Management Committee possess?

1. There’s no scientific basis for the contention that this hunt will reduce the risk of Lyme disease to the people.
2. There’s no valid scientific protocol being instituted to study the deer movement/migration in both the East Goshen Township and the whole of Chester County.
3. Once a year spotting (Deer count using overhead thermographic imaging) of deer is not a valid assessment of the deer movements in/out of the Township. Deer counts can and will fluctuate year long.

Safety Issues

We feel safety is the first key to success of managing the deer problem and we feel East Goshen Township Supervisors and the Deer Management Committee have over looked some valid safety issues. Did you know, by State law the Township has to make provision for solicitations, for example, selling books door-to-door and a background check has to be performed before a permit is issued; yet the hunters who will be performing the “Deer Management” will not have their background checked and to make the matter worse, they will manage themselves? (Aren’t you glad they are not trying to sell you a book?)

1. There’s no set limit of total hunters who will be participating in any given day.
2. There is a potential for increase of poaching.
3. Hunters are not qualified as an accurate archer, because there’s no such qualifying test in our Township to gauge their expertise.
4. There's only a 50 feet buffer between our properties and where the hunters will shoot deer. Deer are known to run 30 - 150 yards after being hit with an arrow and in some cases when the deer are not shot in the "correct" area they will run further.
5. Deer not shot correctly will panic and run blindly away from the hunting area and possibly onto the roadways, into our backyards, or even children’s play area.
6. Probable psychological trauma to children if they see dead or dying deer.
7. Hunters, some strangers, will have no vested interest in sticking to the rules or worrying about the needs of our community.
8. Even if we knew where the killing was taking place, what would stop an aggressive hunter from following his prey into a ''safe'' area? Thus no area would be safe.
9. The hunters could get hurt too. Accidents among bow-hunters occur from falls from tree stands.

Flaws in the East Goshen Township's Open Space Deer Management Program document:

Have you read the "East Goshen Township Open Space Deer Management Program" document? If you have you, would find many flaws and many questions that need to be answered. In "Part 3 - Deer Management Groups" of the document you will find more details regarding the hunt. Or should we say lack of details. The document outlines "attributes" the hunting groups "possess". However, the document is unsound because it uses such words as "most" and "minimum requirement". This leads us to think that not all the hunting groups will have the listed attributes. If the document was law, it would have been judged as too vague to be law. This is a good example of how the Deer Management Program is already mismanaged.

• The document states, such organizations typically possess most of the following attributes. MOST???

• The document states there’s a Deer management “best practices”? Is there a guideline or document? Where to we get a copy of it?

• The document states, "Certification of members’ bow hunting marksmanship and safety at a higher level than required of recreational archers." Who certifies this test and can we see the results of the certification test?

• What are the minimum requirements of the member’s bow hunting experience and track record? Is this documented anywhere and if so can we get a copy?

• “Charter or similar document describes the goals of the organization.”? Can we see copies of these documents? Are these “private hunting club” charters? Is this truly a “private hunt” or a “Township Deer Management program”?

Information regarding Lyme disease

Lyme disease experts and animal advocates say hunting down deer does nothing to prevent the spread of Lyme disease. Both the Wildlife Protection Network and the American Lyme Disease Foundation have opposed hunting deer as a means of combating the disease.

"There is a lot of misinformation about Lyme disease," said Dr. Eugene Shapiro, a pediatrician and Lyme specialist from Yale University, who blames horror stories on the Internet for scaring parents about the disease.

"I tell parents to get an Internet-ectomy," he said. "You live your life and there is a lot of risk out there, but Lyme disease is treatable and curable."

Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash. Doctors treat the disease with antibiotics.

Deer are only a part of the tick's life cycle and are not infected with Lyme disease, according to Shapiro. During the winter, adult ticks feed on deer and mate. In the spring, ticks lay eggs and die. Larval ticks are born uninfected but attach themselves to white-footed mice and other small mammals, acquiring the bacteria. In the nymph stage, ticks are most likely to transmit the disease to humans. Jumping from mammal to mammal, including deer, the cycle starts again.

"Just reducing the numbers [of deer] is highly unlikely to affect the disease," said Shapiro, who said some scientists are exploring immunizing mice, who are the real carriers of the disease.

The Humane Society of America also opposes hunting and recommends birth control programs for deer to control population. Killing deer to prevent disease is "inefficient and misguided," according to Laura Simon, field director for the Humane Society's urban wildlife program. "It won't work."

Studies in states like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have shown that when hunters kill off deer and there is ample food, the animals "rebound" with twins and triplets, according to Simon.

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently testing an immunocontraceptive vaccine called GonaCon that is designed to be used as a wildlife management tool. It could to be available next year.

(The above information regarding Lyme disease was reported by SUSAN JAMES for ABC News. The report: Sharpshooters Aim to Protect N.J. Mall From Deer As Deer Populations Grow and Invade Suburbia, Communities Fight Back, Jan. 25, 2008)

http://safetyfirstforeastgoshen.org

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