Amid growing concern about Lyme disease, selectmen in Edgartown, Aquinnah and West Tisbury this week agreed to join the call for adding another two-week deer hunt next January.
Selectmen in Oak Bluffs and Chilmark last night threw their full support behind a plan to add a second two-week shotgun season for deer in January next year.
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.
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.
