The Vineyard has more deer per square mile than most areas in the state, but most of land remains off limits to hunting.

Martha’s Vineyard may soon join a growing list of communities in New England that have taken aim at white-tailed deer to reduce tick populations.

There appears to be considerable confusion about ticks, the role of their different host animals and what can be reasonably be done to reduce the high incidence of Lyme disease.

Our Island and neighboring areas are faced with a full-blown epidemic of these diseases. Accordingly, we need to plan and act.

Hunter orange is showing up around the Island Monday as the two-week shotgun hunting season gets underway. The season runs through Dec. 12; hunting hours begin half an hour before sunrise and end half an hour after sunset.

Shotgun hunting season opened last week, and runs through Dec. 13. In addition to putting food on the table, the season is essential for gathering the data used to manage the deer population.

At first glance, it seems unlikely that there is a connection between the abundance of white-tailed deer and the long-term documented decline of many songbirds. But let’s take a closer look.

Amazingly enough, deer used to be scarce, with low populations nationwide prior to 1900. Their populations rebounded once restrictions on hunting were put in place and now they are incredibly abundant, making this perhaps one of the most successful wildlife conservation efforts ever.

The arrival of spring means longer days, budding blooms, birdsong and, unfortunately, the unwelcome arrival of deer in the backyard. Deer dig up gardens, eat tulips, and trample plants. They scrape bark off young trees and decimate backyard greenery, all in their quest to find food. Bambi is a beautiful creature, but he can be very detrimental to a garden.

Although frost still covers the ground some mornings, Island boards of health already have their focus turned towards summer and tick season.

At last week’s All-Island Selectmen’s meeting, Tisbury health commissioner Michael Loberg and Edgartown health agent Matthew Poole presented their annual year-end report for the Tick-Borne Illness Reduction Initiative, a five-year study funded by a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The study has just completed its second year.

In an attempt to quantify the Vineyard deer population, a Mount Holyoke College professor flew across the Island last Friday afternoon taking thousands of aerial infrared photographs for a tick-borne illness study. While a snowy, 20 degree day on Martha’s Vineyard may not be most visitors’ optimal conditions for a flight around the Island, professor of geography Thomas Millette deemed Friday’s weather ideal. A frozen ground, calm winds and an overcast sky all optimize the efficiency of the thermal imaging system developed by Mr. Millette.