Letters to the Editor and Others
Non-violent Solutions to Deer Damage
To the Press of Atlantic City, NJ
7/27/03
It was refreshing to read an article touting the virtues of alternative methods of controlling deer damage in the July 23 edition of The Press (Farmers use fencing to save crops from deer). What was also a breath of fresh air was reading the acknowledgement contained within that article that hunting does not work to limit deer populations to safe levels. For more than twenty-five years, we at the Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting have been educating the public to the truth behind state game agency’s claims that hunting is an effective solution to deer overpopulation problems.
State game agencies, including the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, set high "bag limits," meaning that they allow the killing of the maximum number of deer while ensuring that the herd will rebound with larger populations the following season. Reality has it that deer hunting creates unnatural deer overpopulation and contributes to agricultural damage, deer-car collisions, and artificially-high starvation rates. When a herd of deer is hunted, it leaves more habitat, more food, and more breeding opportunity for the lucky survivors. The birthrate of the remaining deer accelerates and more fawns are born, increasing the deer herd for the next season.
The Division encourages this unnatural mismanagement of the deer herd because its annual budget, including the salaries of its most highly paid employees, is funded by the sale of hunting licenses. The larger the deer herd is kept, the more licenses can be sold and the more revenue can be generated. This is the reality of wildlife management as practiced by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Mr. Chris Ruske and his father Rodger, co-owners of Cumberland Nurseries, wisely invested their own money in a quality fence to keep deer off their nursery property. It is interesting to note that Mr. Ruske claimed that the fencing provided by the Division of Fish and Wildlife "wasn't really of good quality." In keeping with their game plan of killing as many animals as possible, the Division must provide poor quality fencing – fencing that cannot do an adequate job of preventing deer damage – in order to push their philosophy of “only hunting can control deer damage.” The feeble non-violent attempts made by the Division are as transparent as cellophane, and hold as much water as a kitchen strainer.
Another option that will keep deer off your property is the environmentally friendly deer repellant called “Liquid Fence.” This liquid is sprayed on and around the plants that are to be protected, and prevents deer from eating your valued vegetation.
Anyone concerned with deer damage to their property would be wise to follow the example set by the Ruske’s and not follow the advice of Fish and Wildlife. Their “violence is the only answer” solution has, for more than one hundred years, been catastrophic to the deer herd and the millions of harmless wild animals killed every year under their reign of terror.
For more information on wildlife agency mismanagement of wild animal populations by state game agencies, please visit the website of The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting at
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/ or call
(845) 256-1400.Joe Miele
New Jersey Field Office
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
PO Box 562
New Paltz, NY 12561
201-368-8271
Return to Letters to the Editor
We welcome your comments
| About C.A.S.H. | Action
Alerts | C.A.S.H. Courier | Join |
Letters | Main |
(d-6)
Copyright © 2003 Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
