People are going to kill because they like to and they can. That’s what hunting is, but to put a $100 bounty on deer is tragic and wrong. The powers that be have so vilified deer that the neurotic among us are growing stronger. Their fear of Lyme disease is infectious and dangerous.

It’s like saying: “I’ve got poison ivy growing up a tree out back — so I took the tree down.” Ticks have been here a long time. You learn to walk the woods and fields intelligently — by going over yourself and your pets, by using tick repellent and by dressing sensibly. Get tested and treated if needed — my dogs and I have, several times.

Don’t promote killing deer through fear and rewarding it with cash. We return to the time of wolf bounties, jack rabbit roundups, toward the slaughter of the passenger pigeons. Perhaps we should just build a wall — to keep nature out. God help us and the poor deer.

Susan Jones

Vineyard Haven and Chilmark