Perhaps these idiots would prefer lethal injection for the herd.
People divided over decision to thin deer herd
Planned hunts called cruel; others cite traffic hazards
MARISA AGHA STAFF WRITER
Betsy Larey readily recites the times that deer usually come through her White Bear Lake yard. A mother and her fawns show up around 4 p.m. A lone buck arrives about 9:30 p.m.
``I see the deer every day,'' said Larey, who maintains a feeder for the deer and other wildlife that visit. ``They're cute as buttons.''
Just across the Bald Eagle-Otter Lake Regional Park in White Bear Township, Diane Wesman has a different view. She describes painful images of deer getting hit by cars. And she remembers the time a deer fell into a neighbor's swimming pool.
``It's gotten to be a very big traffic hazard,'' said Wesman, who says she once counted 17 deer running across her back yard. ``To me, it's just not a nice way for a deer to die.''
The municipal boundaries that divide these two women might be at the center of a conflict over upcoming deer hunts planned by Ramsey County and White Bear Township officials. Beginning Sept. 25, the county will bring its cooperative deer management program to three locations in the township: Tamarack Nature Center, Otter Lake and Poplar Lake.
The joint effort came about to address township residents' complaints about a growing deer herd, said John Moriarty, natural resources specialist for the county's department of parks and recreation.
``They eat everybody's gardens and then come back into the open spaces,'' Moriarty said. ``What we're trying to do is have a balanced system on our park lands.''
Township planner Tom Riedesel said the deer problem has grown worse.
``We've had reports of a number of car-deer incidents,'' Riedesel said.
Bow hunters from the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base, a group of trained volunteers, will kill the deer during several hunts scheduled throughout the fall. Similar hunts will take place in St. Paul and Maplewood this fall and early next year. Moriarty said the ultimate aim is to lower the herd to about 20 to 25 deer per square mile of habitat. That means a drop from the current 38 deer at the Tamarack Nature Center to about 10 to 15 over time, he said.
``We hope to do it with as few hunts as possible,'' Moriarty said.
Larey, however, questions Moriarty's counts and his objectivity. She plans to protest the hunt clad in an orange vest Sept. 25.
``I think that their numbers are completely wrong,'' said Larey, who wants new counts and a voter referendum that would also allow White Bear Lake city residents to vote. ``The deer spend half their time in White Bear Lake and half their time in White Bear Township. Why should the township board make the decision?''
Moriarty countered that he is not an active hunter and will not be a participant in the hunts.
City resident Alberta Taylor said she would like to see humans learn to live with deer.
``They're so willing to live with people,'' Taylor said of the deer. ``I feel they're an innocent, beautiful part of nature.''
Wesman, a township resident, contends that the hunts should solve a problem that is bad for both people and the deer.
``You've got a deer population that has no natural enemy,'' Wesman said. ``The only enemy the deer herd has is the car.''
The city residents and Durk Gescheidle, a board member with the Animal Rights Coalition in Minneapolis, however, believe bowhunting is an inhumane approach.
``These animals are going to suffer terribly,'' Gescheidle said. ``It's just horrible.''
County Commissioner Tony Bennett, who represents the township, said he trusts the county's counts.
``You have to listen to the experts,'' Bennett said.
Marisa Agha can be reached at magha@pioneerpress.com or (651) 481-0353.
©2000 PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press
People divided over decision to thin deer herd
Planned hunts called cruel; others cite traffic hazards
MARISA AGHA STAFF WRITER
Betsy Larey readily recites the times that deer usually come through her White Bear Lake yard. A mother and her fawns show up around 4 p.m. A lone buck arrives about 9:30 p.m.
``I see the deer every day,'' said Larey, who maintains a feeder for the deer and other wildlife that visit. ``They're cute as buttons.''
Just across the Bald Eagle-Otter Lake Regional Park in White Bear Township, Diane Wesman has a different view. She describes painful images of deer getting hit by cars. And she remembers the time a deer fell into a neighbor's swimming pool.
``It's gotten to be a very big traffic hazard,'' said Wesman, who says she once counted 17 deer running across her back yard. ``To me, it's just not a nice way for a deer to die.''
The municipal boundaries that divide these two women might be at the center of a conflict over upcoming deer hunts planned by Ramsey County and White Bear Township officials. Beginning Sept. 25, the county will bring its cooperative deer management program to three locations in the township: Tamarack Nature Center, Otter Lake and Poplar Lake.
The joint effort came about to address township residents' complaints about a growing deer herd, said John Moriarty, natural resources specialist for the county's department of parks and recreation.
``They eat everybody's gardens and then come back into the open spaces,'' Moriarty said. ``What we're trying to do is have a balanced system on our park lands.''
Township planner Tom Riedesel said the deer problem has grown worse.
``We've had reports of a number of car-deer incidents,'' Riedesel said.
Bow hunters from the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base, a group of trained volunteers, will kill the deer during several hunts scheduled throughout the fall. Similar hunts will take place in St. Paul and Maplewood this fall and early next year. Moriarty said the ultimate aim is to lower the herd to about 20 to 25 deer per square mile of habitat. That means a drop from the current 38 deer at the Tamarack Nature Center to about 10 to 15 over time, he said.
``We hope to do it with as few hunts as possible,'' Moriarty said.
Larey, however, questions Moriarty's counts and his objectivity. She plans to protest the hunt clad in an orange vest Sept. 25.
``I think that their numbers are completely wrong,'' said Larey, who wants new counts and a voter referendum that would also allow White Bear Lake city residents to vote. ``The deer spend half their time in White Bear Lake and half their time in White Bear Township. Why should the township board make the decision?''
Moriarty countered that he is not an active hunter and will not be a participant in the hunts.
City resident Alberta Taylor said she would like to see humans learn to live with deer.
``They're so willing to live with people,'' Taylor said of the deer. ``I feel they're an innocent, beautiful part of nature.''
Wesman, a township resident, contends that the hunts should solve a problem that is bad for both people and the deer.
``You've got a deer population that has no natural enemy,'' Wesman said. ``The only enemy the deer herd has is the car.''
The city residents and Durk Gescheidle, a board member with the Animal Rights Coalition in Minneapolis, however, believe bowhunting is an inhumane approach.
``These animals are going to suffer terribly,'' Gescheidle said. ``It's just horrible.''
County Commissioner Tony Bennett, who represents the township, said he trusts the county's counts.
``You have to listen to the experts,'' Bennett said.
Marisa Agha can be reached at magha@pioneerpress.com or (651) 481-0353.
©2000 PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press