[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/staten-island-to-rely-on-car-collisions-starvation-and-old-age-to-reduce-deer-herd\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/staten-island-to-rely-on-car-collisions-starvation-and-old-age-to-reduce-deer-herd\/","headline":"Staten Island to Rely on Car Collisions, Starvation, and Old Age to Reduce Deer Herd","name":"Staten Island to Rely on Car Collisions, Starvation, and Old Age to Reduce Deer Herd","description":"If you\u2019re reading this, you were likely shocked into clicking the link because of the absurdity the title suggests.\u00a0 The...","datePublished":"2016-05-18","dateModified":"2018-10-24","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Deer-Crossing-Sign.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Deer-Crossing-Sign.jpeg","height":799,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/staten-island-to-rely-on-car-collisions-starvation-and-old-age-to-reduce-deer-herd\/","about":["News"],"wordCount":1295,"keywords":["News"],"articleBody":"If you\u2019re reading this, you were likely shocked into clicking the link because of the absurdity the title suggests.\u00a0 The thought of keeping a deer herd in check by smashing them with Prius\u2019 or letting them die a slow death due to old age and starvation paints a pretty picture, doesn\u2019t it? Welcome to Staten Island 2016 and thank you humanitarians!If you\u2019re unfamiliar with the current situation on one of New York\u2019s finest Islands, here\u2019s the short run down:Deer got onto Staten Island.Deer proliferated on the island due to no hunting and no predators.People loved seeing the deer in their suburbia setting.People started hitting deer with their cars.People started complaining about their plants and gardens being eaten by deer.People want less deer, but don\u2019t want to kill the deer.Mayor de Blasio and citizens vote to fix the problem (pun intended) by sterilizing bucks rather than killing does.There\u2019s your quick rundown on what\u2019s happening on the East Coast (and other places as a matter of fact – mostly in big suburbs). Sounds like a lot of common sense is being used in their decision, don\u2019t you think?Here\u2019s the real kicker, it\u2019s only going to cost the taxpayers $2 Million for the first 3 years, whether its successful or not.\u00a0 Now maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m from a small town in the Midwest, but $2 Million is a lot of dough to throw at an issue that could be solved for free and feed plenty of hungry people. \u00a0On top of that, this solution won’t work.Here\u2019s what\u2019s wrong with political deer management and why sterilizing bucks won\u2019t solve the problem.Staten Island has an immediate deer problem, hence the cause for action. This is not a time to be planning for 3 years from now, Staten Island needs the deer herd reduced now.\u00a0How is this going to reduce deer numbers immediately?\u00a0 Oh, and guess what, it\u2019s fawning season!\u00a0 Hope they are happy with 20% more deer or potentially even higher amounts since predation of fawns is basically non-existent.Sterilizing bucks is a new approach in the world of sterilizing whitetails. Typically, it\u2019s the doe\u2019s cord that gets snipped, but since Staten Island is, well, an island\u2026they believe snipping the bucks will effectively reduce the population because no deer will be coming or leaving.\u00a0 Hmmm, I wonder how the deer got there in the first place?\u00a0 Maybe, some redneck put a couple in his pickup truck, crossed the Verrazano bridge, and dropped them off in the Greenbelt and they multiplied\u2026 yeah, right.\u00a0 Or maybe, deer continue to swim from the mainland as shown in the video below, and continue to go back and forth as a means to mate and limit the potential for inbreeding?\u00a0 Bottom line is, you\u2019ll never sterilize the entire male population and it only takes one buck to breed a number of does. \u00a0What’s the magic number of bucks to sterilize? If a doe doesn\u2019t get bred during her first estrous cycle, she\u2019ll cycle again, and again \u2013 providing several more chances for an un-sterile buck to do his thing.In relation to #3, does that don\u2019t get bred will cycle every month, thus, prolonging the rut. Since deer are creatures driven by hormones, guess what this elongated rut will do? For one, it will put tremendous physical strains on the active herd, perhaps running them to death.\u00a0 That\u2019s a humane practice though, right?\u00a0 Secondly, can you tell me when the most deer-car collisions occur?\u00a0 By golly, it\u2019s during the rut of course, so let\u2019s prolong it! Sterilizing the bucks creates less opportunity for the does to be bred during their first estrous cycle.\u00a0 Less opportunity for does to be bred means they will cycle over and over until they get bred. Does in estrous drive bucks wild and keep them up and moving.\u00a0 SMASH! Congrats, you just killed a deer with your car, actually you broke its legs and the officer had to shoot it to “humanely” put it out of its misery, and because the meat was damaged by the vehicle, it won\u2019t feed any of the hungry.Bucks on the island are like Pok\u00e9mon and you gotta catch \u2018em all! My apologies for that reference, but seriously, they will have to catch and sterilize the vast majority of bucks on the island to have any kind of impact on population levels.\u00a0 Again, bucks will breed multiple does if given the opportunity. \u00a0Catching them is probably not a big deal though because mature bucks are really easy to draw within range of a dart gun\u2026 yeah, right\u2026 Some of the best hunters in the world sometimes don\u2019t even lay eyes on a buck they had on trail camera for the entire season.\u00a0 Oh, and how are they going to know when they did \u201ccatch \u2018em all\u201d?Since this vasectomy thing is a new concept, there\u2019s no telling what kind of physiological tolls there will be on the wild population.\u00a0 Deer are controlled by hormones, messing with these balances could do some funky things.\u00a0 Will snipped bucks grow antlers, shed velvet, rut, or shed antlers? All these things are controlled by acute changes in testosterone levels, so what happens when humans mess with those levels?In the end, if deer are not harvested by hunters their only fate is to die of old age, starvation, predation, disease, or by vehicle collisions. The prevalence of Lyme\u2019s Disease will undoubtedly rise, and dead, rotting carcasses will leave a \u201cfresh\u201d scent on the island.Common sense and science tell us that does need to be taken out of the herd (a.k.a. killed) in order to sensibly control this situation.\u00a0 Sorry if I offended you for using such a vulgar term for what needs to happen, but killing and death is part of life.\u00a0 You\u2019re a killer if you hit a deer with a car just as much as I\u2019m a killer for launching an arrow through one\u2019s vitals.\u00a0 Only difference is mine comes home and ends up on the dinner plate.\u00a0 Killing does in this situation would solve multiple problems simultaneously for a fraction of the cost, which is exactly why I don\u2019t get it.Killing does would:Reduce the deer herd immediately.Remove the reproductive animals, thus controlling future population numbers.Provide for a healthier herd overall \u2013 more food available, a regular rut, less car collisions, less disease, etc.Provide thousands of pounds of fresh and organic venison to the hungry.Cost the taxpayers substantially less money.Of course, those outcomes make far too much sense to actually employ.\u00a0 So for now, let\u2019s just order all the bucks to take a vow of celibacy. Or better yet, since we all love wolves and coyotes, why don\u2019t we transplant some wolves from Wisconsin to combat the problem naturally?"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/staten-island-to-rely-on-car-collisions-starvation-and-old-age-to-reduce-deer-herd\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Staten Island to Rely on Car Collisions, Starvation, and Old Age to Reduce Deer Herd"}}]}]