The Impact Of Deer

On The Ecosystem

To the Editor,

I am writing in response to last week’s letter from Mike Cragin [“Managing Nature,” 2/26/10]. It seems Mr Cragin is unaware of the devastation the deer herd is causing not only to our gardens and plantings, but the other wildlife in our town. Though he attempts to make light of the impact of the herd and further attempts to imply that if we reduce the herd because of the damage it is now doing, we will have to reduce the numbers of other creatures we co-habitat with in the future. Well Mr Cragin, if we continue to turn farmland into housing and mismanage our parks and state forests, your assertion may in fact be right. You see, ever since we humans entered the arena we have displaced wildlife.

I live near the state forest and have walked there for 30-plus years. The forest has changed vastly in those few years. Gone are the grouse and the pheasant. The rabbit and the quail. The brush and understory that once gave them protection and nourishment are gone, eaten by the deer.

As for Mr Craigin’s comment on our next eliminating the voles, moles, and ground hogs, that won’t be a problem as the lack of ground cover has exposed them to the ever-increasing packs of coyote and the ever-present birds of prey. Without cover all the creatures of the forest are doomed.

The deer have no real predators in our area. Coyotes may kill a sick or young deer, but rarely as they simply don’t have the strength to down a creature that outweighs them by a factor of three or four. Perhaps once the small game have disappeared, the coyote will move on and the mountain lion and wolf will arrive to deal with our deer problem. I wonder how Mr Craigin would feel about that. Would he still take the chance of confronting one of those creatures to see his lady slippers? I think not.

We humans, as the highest life form in residence, have a duty to this planet and all its creatures, to keep things in balance. Yes, our encroachment has damaged the environment and reduced the area our fellow animals have to exist within. Yes, we must find a way to live in harmony with all our fellow creatures, but we must also recognize that every time another family builds a new house on once fallow or farm land, we have reduced the area to support our deer herd and many other living things. To not recognize that to be true keepers of the land we must balance the environment and to do so means either fewer of us (my personal favorite) or fewer of them. It is that simple. Yes, we have a tick problem and we need research to identify solutions to Lyme disease, but they are not the only reasons to reduce the deer herd. We must do so for the good of all the beings that share our town with us.

Lou Reda

17 Tamarack Road, Newtown                                        March 1, 2010