Town of Darien: Deer Management Committee

Compiled by the Darien Deer Management Committee
updated September 2003

Exploding Population Growth

A doe born last Spring will produce about 24 offspring over the next 12 years. Meanwhile, each of her succeeding generations will be producing yearly as well, exponentially.

In the controlled Michigan Study, after ten deer were enclosed safely and well fed for five years, their number increased twenty-one fold to 212. The Conn. Dept. of Environmental Protection reports that there were only 12 deer in this state in 1896; 19,000 in the first aerial survey of 1975; 55,000 in 1995 and an estimated 76,000 in 2002

The DEP estimates that Fairfield County (zone 11) contains 40 deer per square mile, double the state average of 20 per sq. mi. The difference is due largely to the tight firearm restrictions legislated for this populated Zone and Zone 12 covering the New Haven area.

Problems Resulting from Overpopulation

Deer/vehicle Collisions
In 2002, statewide there were 2,434 dead deer found and reported from deer-vehicle collisions, or about seven per day. Alarmingly, almost 22% (507) of them occurred in Fairfield County. The DEP estimates that the true number of road kills is about double those reported, and this does not include road accidents, some fatal to passengers, in which deer escape alive.

A Darien auto body shop reported that repairs per deer collision run over $2,200 each time. Local surveys still indicate that that over 75% of respondents believe more should be done to control the deer population.

Crippling Lyme Disease
This debilitating, but hard-to-diagnose disease linked to deer ticks poses another very serious problem. In 2002 a new record of 4,631 Lyme disease cases were actually reported, according to Dr. Kirby Stafford, chief scientist at the CT Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. About one-third of the cases came from Fairfield and New Haven Counties, and worse yet, he estimates that only one-eighth of the cases are diagnosed and reported. Further, a single deer may host over 10,000 ticks.

Underscoring that view, the Univ. of Connecticut’s phone survey of 435 New Canaan adults revealed that 45% of the respondents had contracted Lyme disease and 86% said that Lyme disease was a serious problem there. The local committee has heard many sad personal accounts from long-term, LD sufferers here and has read many long, painful accounts in Lyme Matters Newsletter on the Internet.

Defoliation
The average deer consumes about one ton of forage each year causing enormous damage to gardens, crops, and woodlands. The Audubon Society has published reports of alarming loss of habitat for birds and small animals, as well as the elimination of valued woodland flowers, and new tree shoots. Still, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept. lists seven reasons for people not to feed wild deer.

Local Options for Relief

Defensive Measures
Fencing, netting, sprays to kill ticks or protect people and plant-life are only partially effective. The anti-Lyme vaccine was found ineffective and was discontinued, and deer have been seen to jump over eight-foot fences. Experts warn people going outdoors (notably gardeners and children) to cover up, use insect repellents, check for ticks and even avoid wooded or grassy areas.

Contraception
Very expensive trials in Groton, CT, and elsewhere have yet to achieve viable contraception techniques. The cost of inoculating a doe the necessary two times at just the right times yearly still runs over $500 per deer per year. Further, deer so treated are found to wander more on to roads. Scientists also find that castrating bucks fails, because other bucks invariably move in from other ranges.

Hunting
The DEP still concludes that hunting is the most effective and most cost efficient way to manage deer population growth. Other zones in the state where firearms in season are allowed, report some success in controlling such growth. Incidentally, live excess deer are unwanted elsewhere, especially disease carrying ones.

BOW HUNTING, the only widely accepted method of containing the deer increase in our two zones, still appears to be under-utilized due to time limitations on hunters and misunderstanding of the situation by some landowners. It is not for the lack of willing volunteer sportsmen. A local authority assures that no one has ever been hit by a stray arrow in this area. For those interested, the Town Clerk and the Darien police offer the current Darien Bow Hunter List of approved hunters. They are trained to shoot from high stands when people are not around at times the owners designate.

Legislative Relief for Impacted Southwestern CT

Last year tight restrictions imposed years ago were eased in Fairfield County and its neighboring zone in an attempt to limit the threats to health, safety and the environment by over-abundant deer. For the first time in decades, hunting season was extended beyond Dec. 31st through Jan. 31st. While this continues, Sunday hunting is still not allowed. This means that many working hunters are only able to hunt on Saturdays in suitable weather.

A previous Darien study among 70 local senior men showed that 81% looked favorably on more relaxed legislation. First Selectman, Robert F. Harrel has again urged property owners, especially those with larger tracts, to follow the Deer Committee’s recommendations and harvest more deer. Hunting is allowable on any sized property, and The Committee serves at times as an intermediary for individuals and neighborhood groups that ask for help.