Deer in the Crosshairs–

Is Sharpshooting The Answer To Tick-Borne Disease?

By Kendra Bobowick

Introduced as a “full spectrum ecologist who will manage the wildlife population,” Anthony DeNicola, PhD, addressed the Tick-Borne Disease Action Committee last week with words of caution: “It gives me great pain to see folks spend so much time” studying the various information related to deer, ticks, Lyme, and other diseases.

Later in the evening he told members, “I am not here to tell you that you have a problem, I am here to guide you down a path to a mix of solutions.”

In the field for more than 20 years, he assured the committee, “There is nothing I don’t know … I am here to dispel myths, fill in gaps.” With a variety of considerations including deer population reduction to manage tick-borne disease, member Mark Alexander asked, “Do you think sharpshooting is more effective? What does it entail?”

The concept involves “very precise” equipment in well-trained hands, Dr DeNicola began. The objective is a shot to the center of the brain.

“It’s more graphic, but more humane and it’s instantaneous.” The approach requires baiting the deer as well as allowing them to become secure in the feeding area, which could take several weeks. “You get the deer thinking the food is a positive reflection of human activity,” he said, after which the sharpshooters enter. With a word on deer behavior, he noted, “Euthanize the lead female, and the others will stay. You can euthanize [them] all,” he explained. “You kill instantaneously and rapidly.”

If you shoot with a dart or bow and hit one animal, it runs, he said. “They all run.” Regarding archery, he said, “Shoot one of a group and others get smart to the threat, which is not a reflection of the hunter, it’s the method.” Sharpshooting, however, is “rapid, and efficient, that’s what sharpshooting is.” Sharpshooting methods differ from recreational hunting. “It is calculated and systematic,” he said. Even controlled hunts lack group dynamic and team effort, he noted. “Deer can get smart to the threat,” he warned.

For example: “Sharpshooting with three people in five hours we killed half the deer population in a 500-acre park.” Dr DeNicola then offered an exception. “This doesn’t mean you can’t hunt the area over four months,” he said. Approaches can be “site specific of what can be achieved. What if people in a community step forward to offer their properties? He answered, “You need cooperation; you need public support — it’s feasible.”

‘Going Nowhere’

The committee has talked about herd reduction to ten deer per square mile. “That’s not going to happen in this town,” he said, and later explained it is not about the success or failure of an approach, but a matter of priority to the town, its residents, and its government. He asked, “Is it important enough to become a line-item, like snow removal?” Looking at the people gathered, he said, “Right now, in this room, I don’t see an elected official … from what I see, you’re not ready; unless someone in the government is driving this, it’s going nowhere.” Solutions are going to be costly, he said. “Unless you’re convinced this is enough of a problem to spend money on it, this is waste of time,” he said.

“It depends on what we recommend to [the government],” explained Chairman Robert Grossman, MD. First Selectman Pat Llodra has attended several meetings, often arriving late after a prior obligation.

“I see this wherever I go,” said Dr DeNicola. “Unless someone is driving this within a political body, it’s going nowhere.” The effort will take support and money, he stressed.

With warning, he said, “Unless you pave Newtown over into a parking lot, whatever you do [to reduce herds] you’ve got to keep doing until you’re in maintenance mode.” He would later add, “You can’t address this without money.”

He also answered one question regarding deer density that recurs each meeting — what is the correlation between the abundance of ticks and abundance of deer? What is the threshold to the threat to people? Ten deer per square mile is “probably not far off,” Dr DeNicola said. “You can reduce the volume of ticks by reducing deer, but I don’t know about the decrease in Lyme. A precipitous decline in public risk probably does not occur until the bottom of deer densities,” he said.

Committee member Maggie Shaw asked again about the relationship in deer reduction, ticks, and Lyme disease incidents. Dr DeNicola said, “Clearly the tick abundance drops, but no one knows when disease dissipates.” He referred to various studies that explored drops in tick counts, adding, “There is not enough data out there.”

A Full Menu Of Methods

Sharpshooting, contraception, use of posters to administer tick pesticides to the deer, spraying for tick control, education about personal safety measures, and more could all be employed to protect against tick-borne disease, he agreed. “There is nothing to say to use just one or another method.” What will be most effective, and what is the cost? These two points are points of consideration, he reminded the members. Assume the town has no money to invest, and recreational or even managed hunts are encouraged. “You have created a recreational opportunity, not a solution,” he stated. “Until you kill enough deer to make a difference, you will not see an impact.”

With consideration for Newtown’s geography, he noted the fragmented property ownership and individual areas that are hunted. To have an “overall impact the hunters have to be organized,” Dr DeNicola said.

His bottom line? Dr DeNicola told the committee, “I can tell you how long, the cost, and return of different methods. I’ve never failed. I can tell you what will work and what will not; you’ve got to decide what you want to spend.”

Clarifying misperceptions that several Internet videos have generated, Dr DeNicola discredited the impression that deer that had been shot by sharpshooters were “still struggling” as shooters bagged the head or removed the deer from the forest. Noting that the community is “so far removed from the chicken with its head cut off,” people without medical backgrounds may not understand the body’s movements after death. “If an animal is shot in the brain — there is no control of motor skills. There is residual motor skill when you destroy the brain.” Bodies of deer that have been killed could flail or kick for several minutes, he explained. The bag is placed on the head to minimize blood flow. He noted the public’s naiveté, and spoke against misinformation and “people who use the misinformation for their own agenda.” He continued, “I have respect for people who don’t agree with lethal measures, but don’t lie.”

Weighing points raised at the January 20 meeting, Mrs Llodra spoke this week about the government’s position on funding and support for the committee’s eventual decisions.

How firmly is the town behind the committee? Without knowing the decisions the Tick-Borne Disease Action Committee will render, Mrs Llodra said, “It’s hard to say.” The committee also came together via a prior administration. She cannot guess at its intentions.

She feels the newly seated Board of Selectman still required education on the issues before the action committee. She said, “I believe we are all aware of a public health concern.”

She said, “We’re going to have to challenge ourselves and struggle with resources.” Decisions face the committee, the selectmen, and ultimately the town, she said. Eventually coming to the question of a deer cull, she said, “It really strikes at the heart of the community. That question elsewhere has gone to referendum,” Mrs Llodra said. “What is the cost and is the community willing to bare that cost over time.” She said the selectmen “have to discuss it in depth.”

Education, especially regarding self-checks for ticks, is critical. “It’s a personal responsibility, a family responsibility, a homeowner responsibility,” she said. “The government can’t solve all problems at all levels.” Aware that Lyme and other disease, if untreated, can cause “life altering circumstances,” she hopes to see education about the health issue. “We need to confront it.”

While the action committee aims for the end of March to reach its conclusions and reports, she said, “If they feel they need to pull back, please feel free to take extra time if they need it.”