Tuxedo Park program culls 100 deer from population

By Nancy Kriz TUXEDO PARK — The Village of Tuxedo Park has completed what officials call a successful “deer management program,” using the services of a company specializing in legal deer hunting to cull the village’s overpopulated deer herd by approximately 100.

Village of Tuxedo Park Mayor Thomas Wilson said village police also worked with White Buffalo Inc. of Moodus, Conn. According to according to its Web site, White Buffalo Inc. is a non-profit wildlife management and research organization and “the leading expert in the population control of white-tail deer in highly sensitive areas such as suburban communities and city parks.”

While New York State DEC culling permits gave White Buffalo from Feb. 1 to March 31 to cull 100 deer, it only took about 10 days before they reached the maximum deer allowed as per the permits.

“That shows you how many deer there were,” Wilson said.

Tuxedo Park is a village of more than 620 people and encompasses slightly more than three square miles (2.7 square miles of land and 0.6 square miles of water). Rough estimates put the deer herd in the range of at least 100 per square mile, Wilson said.

The village’s goal is to get the herd to be 10 deer per square mile, which the DEC also says is its goal to achieve forest equilibrium, he added.

As a result of the hunt, Wilson estimated the current number of deer to be about 25 per square mile, but with permits exhausted there is nothing more they can do this year.

Lyme disease Wilson said Tuxedo Park’s decision to cull the deer is aligned with the DEC’s own five-year deer management plan and also addresses three village concerns.

First, he noted, Tuxedo Park was looking to decrease the amount of Lyme disease cases seen within the village.

According to a synopsis of the Jan. 24 village board of trustee meeting posted on the Web site “Tuxedo Park FYI,” www.tpfyi.com, Wilson said he believed that there were enough confirmed cases of Lyme disease within Tuxedo Park “to determine the necessity of the program.”

During the meeting, Cami Fischer - the local liaison who worked with White Buffalo - said the county health department is unable to get an accurate count because many of those afflicted with Lyme disease have their primary residence in New York City. When Fisher contacted health department officials, it was under the impression there had only been two confirmed cases in Tuxedo Park.

Regardless, Wilson said, there is enough evidence through conversations with residents to show they are dealing with the tick-borne disease.

“We’re dealing with the public’s health,” he added. “We are concerned about those five to 15-year-olds who get Lyme disease at an age where it can significantly impact them for the rest of their lives, and that includes both physically and mentally. When you have 10 times the deer in the area, you certainly see significant increases in tick-borne illnesses.”

Other benefits As outcome of the culling, Tuxedo Park donated 3,000 pounds of venison to area shelters, Wilson said, which amounted to 9,000 meals for hungry people.

Lastly, reducing the number of deer in the area helps with forest regeneration and biodiversity, a measure of the area’s ecosystem health, Wilson added.

Wilson said the village approved a contract to not exceed $25,000 with White Buffalo for the work at its board of trustees meeting In January.

As part of the plan, he explained, White Buffalo staff provided classroom and field training to the Tuxedo Park police so that next year, “our local police department can handle this” and village will not incur the costs it did this year.

According to Tuxedo Park FYI meeting synopsis, “The decision to use local law enforcement as sharp shooters moving forward will be an advantage to the program since they are exempt from many of the legal restrictions that other shooters would face.... Low caliber, non-ricocheting ammunition will be used.”

In preparation for the hunt, according to the Tuxedo Park FYI meeting synopsis, Fischer reported 16 bait sites were set up on Jan. 7 “in all four quadrants of the park.”

Safety first Wilson stressed the village placed safety first in everything it did.

“We realized we need to do something and we did not want well-meaning citizens to flush deer to an open area for hunters to shoot who may not necessarily have the required permits,” he said. “For us, this is a forever plan; easily a 10- to 20-year plan given that where we live, we’re surrounded by forest.”

In addition, according to the Web site’s meeting synopsis, Fischer didn’t know what the deer population is in Tuxedo Park is and “that although they had planned to do a count by helicopter, to date, weather conditions had not allowed for this.”

Wilson - who is running for Congress this year against Republican U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth, for her seat in the 19th Congressional District - said on Tuesday that should the area have a decent snowfall in the next weeks, village officials will then undertake a count by air because the deer are easier to notice with the snow’s white backdrop on the ground.

The meeting synopsis said 16 landowners had agreed to allow shooting on their properties, with a Tuxedo Park police official stressing “safety was certainly the number one priority for everyone involved.”

This large, legal deer hunt was organized to thin out the population, though it’s not the first time such an effort has been undertaken.

Last year’s attempt to reduce the numbers of deer within the village’s borders was a failure, Wilson said, due to the many difficulties organizers encountered because of the weather.

Last year, according to the meeting synopsis, “there were only nine sites with a 30-day permit, but the program was stopped short due to encrusted ice and flooding as well as an over abundance of acorns, which resulted in deer not taking the bait.”

Compelling reasons Town of Tuxedo officials support the village’s efforts to cull the deer population.

“As town supervisor, I’m completely in favor of it,” said Peter Dolan, who, like many homeowners and vehicle operators, is forced to deal with the problems caused by a bulging deer population in their yards and on highways. “I know they are trying to eradicate the deer that are becoming a nuisance to the village. It’s a proactive and smart approach the village is taking in the interest of public safety. Hopefully this will help and also address the tick problem a little bit.”

Wilson also knows animal activists will oppose what the village’s deer management plan.

“I know people are concerned about animal rights,” he said. “We had that discussion among our own group. One of our residents is a mother of two small boys with Lyme disease. We asked the mother of these two boys to tell her story of what happened once they got Lyme disease. That’s a pretty compelling story when you hear that. It’s hard to get angry when you have the health of kids at stake.”

That allowed officials, Wilson said, to have “rational and meaningful conversations.”

“We reached an agreement,” he added, “but we know we’re not going to make everyone happy.”