Hastings Mayor Reveals Deer Control Plan

It used to be that just saying the word "deer" in the Rivertowns provoked an instant and reflexive response. Residents knew how they felt about the increasing population and knew exactly what they wanted done.

That is no longer the case.

Now, it seems, hearing the word "deer" evokes feelings of uncertainty—ambivalence even—making residents stop, inhale deeply and sigh.

In a public board of trustees meeting Tuesday, Hastings Mayor Peter Swiderski unveiled his basic implementation plan for using immunocontraception—birth control—to combat the village's burgeoning population of white-tail deer.

"Cases of Lyme disease are up to over 100 per year, deer are destroying gardens and the natural environment," Swiderski said as a preface to the presentation. "Residents have told me they remember a time when they couldn't even see through the Hillside Woods. Now the woods are bare, in large part because of the deer."

The new plan, which the mayor hopes to initiate in the fall, 2011, entails vaccinating does—female deer—with small darts filled with contraceptive drug PZP. PZP is believed to last two years, so the process would have to be repeated every two hunting seasons for an indefinite period of time.

"Studies have shown deer populations to decrease by 50 percent in similar communities within four or five years," Swiderski said.

The cost, he said, would be significant in the beginning—with the village relying on trained experts to administer the vaccinations—but would "taper off" after the first few years.

"The annual cost after the fourth year should not exceed $5,000, which is nothing for the village," Swiderski said. 

He also emphasized that the village would not be alone in this effort. 

"Because PZP is still in the trial phase, Hastings will become part of a study," he said. "It will be conducted by Dr. Allen Rutberg of Tufts University."

A research biologist interested in zoology and animal behavior, Rutberg has conducted other controlled studies using PZP in such locations as Fire Island, N.Y. and is excited by the possibility of making Hastings another test sight.

He could not commit to a numerical estimate though on how many years it might take to see results.

'We don't know how many deer you have and don't know how long they live," he said. "Typically residents will start seeing fewer fawns after two years."

Though not as efficient as a cull might be, Rutberg said the population's stabilization would be good for the community's overall psyche.

"It allays the anxiety for residents just to see that the situation is not getting worse," he said.

Although three of Hastings' four trustees applauded the mayor's decision to table his permit for "net and bolt" cull obtained last year, Trustee Jeremiah Quinlan said he was not convinced immunocontraception would work. 

"I hope and pray I'm wrong, but I don't think this solution will be successful," he said.

Quinlan also highlighted that the mayor and board's decision "flew in the face" of the Greenburgh Deer Committee—a group of locals formed in 2006—which put together a nearly 200-page report ultimately favoring lethal options to immunocontraception. 

"I apologize for all their hard work," Quinlan said.

Barbara Stagno, a Dobbs Ferry resident who works for California-based animal rights organization In Defense of Animals, has volunteered to spearhead the fundraising effort for the project.

"I have very little feeling this will fail," she said. "I think the science is solid."

A  recurring motif throughout Swiderski's presentation was the comparative brutality of "net-and-bolt euthanasia" to Rutberg's more-humane option. Stagno echoed the mayor's sentiment, noting the potential emotional disturbance a repetitive cull might cause in the community.

Yet residents at the meeting were torn on whether to support the board's decision.  

"This is an ethical problem," Hastings resident John Gonder said, holding up a copy of "The Rivertowns Enterprise." "When was this decision made? This year deer ate 80 pounds of tomatoes from my garden, and then I read in the paper the board had changed their mind?"

Joyce Altman, though, said she was "extremely pleased with the solution."

"We share this planet with the animals," she said. "I actually get uplifted seeing the deer in my yard."

And Irvington resident Diana Barella, who served on the Greenburgh Deer Committee, thanked the mayor for "gathering more information and changing his mind"—saying she had never favored lethal control. 

But questions still remain regarding how the mayor and Rutberg will overcome national, state and local legislation to implement the program: the EPA has not yet approved PZP for use, the state Department of Environmental Conservation must issue a permit before Hastings can carry out any wildlife-altering initiative, and the Town of Greenburgh has a strict no-projectile law--meaning that shooting darts at deer is currently prohibited. 

"I'm optimistic we can get all the necessary permits," Rutberg said. "We may come up against obstacles—[meaning county and town laws]—I'm not familiar with, but we'll deal with them as they come up."

And some environmentalists question the effects injecting chemicals into nature might have on the environment at large.

"It is always a concern to me when people want to alter elements of the environment with chemicals," M.J. Wilson, an Irvington environmentalist, said. "I worry when people have selective tunnel-vision about projects they want to believe in."

But Rutberg, a former 10-year employee of the Humane Society of America, said from his perspective Hastings officials were making the right choice.

"Sure, it might be faster to kill them all," Rutberg said. "But that's not the ethic we're trying to promote here."