http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/2009110...-contraceptive-

Here's what I find interesting...



Like I said. Vermin.

stupid is forever . birth control has never worked and never will

So how to protect ourselves from this dangerous mammal? Some more squeamish suburbanites, who generally hunt for their steaks and venison at the local supermarket, suggest using contraception. And in urban settings, contraception does work. "Shooting deer in urban parks and yards is illegal, unwise, unsafe, and publicly unacceptable," says Jay Kirkpatrick, director of ZooMontana's Science and Conservation Biology Program. Kirkpatrick has developed a vaccine using porcine zona pellucida proteins (pig proteins that surround pig eggs) that prompts a deer's immune system to produce antibodies that block egg fertilization. To be effective the vaccine must be injected, usually via dart guns, into deer four to five times over several years.

The vaccine has successfully reduced the number of deer on Fire Island in New York by 50 percent over seven years, and by 40 percent at the National Institute of Standards and Technology campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, over the past five years. Kirkpatrick notes with dismay that state game commission bureaucrats refuse to use contraception on state-controlled urban lands because their hunter constituents fear that animal rights activists will try to require its use on free-ranging forest deer populations. Kirkpatrick notes that his center makes only 4,000 to 5,000 doses of the vaccine annually and that contraceptive vaccination is totally inappropriate for controlling deer populations on wildlands.

Hunters traditionally want to kill bucks with big sets of antlers. In the past century, state game managers have persuaded hunters to leave does alone to reproduce. However, an innovative program called Quality Hunting Ecology advocated by Brent Haglund, president of the Sand County Foundation in Wisconsin, is being adopted by some states. The idea is that hunters must kill two does before they can shoot a buck. This program reduces the number of fertile females. One apparent side effect of having fewer female deer is that testosterone levels rise in bucks that must compete for access to the remaining females, thus making them bigger trophy animals. Preliminary results of the Quality Hunting Ecology program in Wisconsin show that it does reduce the deer population and improve forest quality. Pennsylvania has just adopted a similar program for this current hunting season.

http://reason.com/archives/2001/11/21/nort...-most-dangerous

The quality hunting bit is interesting, methinx: though from what I've read at some hunting sites, not all hunters think highly of it. Let me see if I can post a link to one of the stories...

At least they're not calling it a hunt.


Big deer kill focus of battle at Valley Forge

Plan to use sharpshooters to thin the large herd is met with resistance.
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Activists opposed to the plan to kill massive numbers of deer at Valley Forge National Historical Park have begun lobbying members of Congress to try to stop the shooting before it starts.
Opponents have met with staffers for Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey and Reps. Jim Gerlach and Joe Sestak, pressing for intervention. Last week, there was no sign that the politicians would step in to halt the deer shoot, which could start as early as today.

Sestak, D.-Pa., said in an interview that if park officials could assure him of certain safety standards, and allow a neutral observer on the grounds during the shoot, he would count himself “a reluctant supporter.� A representative for Gerlach, R-Pa., said the lawmaker believes the National Park Service “has looked at this backwards and forwards, and has been very thorough in its review.� Gerlach will continue to monitor the issue, particularly in terms of residents’ safety and property rights, the representative said.

Efforts to obtain comments from the other elected officials were unsuccessful. Betty Madden, a Chester Springs social worker and activist, was among those who told staffers for Democrats Casey and Specter about her fears surrounding the kill. The danger is not only that stray bullets may zip into the neighborhoods that surround the park, she said. It’s also that scores of frightened deer -- scattering at the first crack of a rifle -- could run onto roads, colliding with cars.

“I’m concerned about the deer. I’m more concerned about people,� Madden said in an interview. “These deer right now are pretty tame. You start shooting at them, they’re not tame anymore. They’re running for their lives.� Valley Forge Superintendent Michael Caldwell said in an interview that park officials had been in touch with members of Congress, as they regularly communicate with elected officials at all levels -- and that the park would move ahead with its plan.

“We believe we’ve developed a science-based, achievable alternative, and we also believe we’ve had a vibrant public discussion on this alternative,� Caldwell said. “We’ve reached a decision that’s an important decision for the future of the park.� Along with holding public hearings, he said, the park published its plans on its Web site, which includes a page of frequently asked questions.

Park officials have said the first deer shoot will take place between November and March, but have refused to announce dates. The Inquirer has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the dates, along with information about the park’s safety plans. Park officials intend to have federal employees or contractors fire high-power, silencer-equipped rifles, mostly at night, at deer lured to areas baited with apples and grain. Over the next four years, officials plan to reduce the herd from an estimated 1,277 to between 165 and 185.

Last week, opponents issued a statement arguing that park administrators “suppressed critical scientific opposition� and that “the public commentary was a sham� because no direct questioning was allowed. “We would like to have the public hearings reopened,� the statement said, and for the park deer study “to include all the critical points of scientific challenge made by Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, Dr. Allen Rutberg as well as other scientists in areas of deer biology.�
Kirkpatrick and Rutberg have documented how contraceptives can dramatically reduce deer populations over time. For instance, contraceptives reduced the herd on the grounds of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland by 27 percent in five years.
For deer, Valley Forge is a 5.3-square-mile forest sanctuary where they roam untouched. The green oasis is encircled by development that includes neighborhoods, business districts, and the giant King of Prussia mall complex.

Valley Forge officials say the herd has grown big and destructive, gobbling so many plants, shrubs, and saplings that the forest cannot regenerate. Administrators plan to shoot 500 deer the first year, 500 the second, and between 250 and 300 in years three and four.
After four years, officials say, they’ll maintain a smaller herd through contraceptives and additional shoots. They estimate that shooting deer will cost between $2 million and $2.9 million during the next 15 years.

The plan has provoked enormous controversy among people who live near Valley Forge, site of the Continental Army’s 1777-78 winter encampment. Opponents say officials embraced a dangerous alternative without fully considering less expensive, more humane options. Others favor the shoot, seeing deer as nuisances that devour plants and put cars and people at risk.


One comment...
$2.0 to 2.9 million dollars to kill 1000 deer. The government sure is efficient. I hope they start running health care soon......
November 2, 2009 at 8:06 AM

http://www.timesleader.com/news/Big_deer_k..._Valley_Forge_1

Which is why I wonder allowing local citizens to do the hunting themselves, wasn't decided on. They could RAISE money(To pay for those deer-condoms).

Grace >>>> your quote is from 2001 .


In 1974, Fire Island’s deer herd was estimated at 50 individuals; by 1989, it was close to 500, and in 2003 it was estimated to be 500-700. From population density studies conducted over the past seven years, it is estimated that 300-500 deer now live on Fire Island.

http://www.nps.gov/fiis/naturescience/deer.htm


they have been doing this since 1993 , don't seem to be working to me .


in you last post >>

[i]contraceptives reduced the herd on the grounds of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland by 27 percent in five years

the fact that nearly 100 deer are killed by car each year helps a lot too .

http://www.wildlifeconflicts.org/journal/s...tberg_60_67.pdf