Vassar to cull deer population

This week, the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve Oversight Committee announced that they will be holding a sharpshooting session in the preserve over Winter Break to lower the deer population.

The Committee has been dealing with deer overpopulation for years and has been considering reducing the deer population since 2004, when a flyover using infrared cameras determined that there were 223 deer on campus, according to the Committee's report. Another flyover in January 2009 showed that the deer population was still high, at a density of 125 per square mile. The New York Department of Environmental
Conservation recommends that deer densities be below 15 per square mile to sustain a stable ecosystem.

At its current population, Vassar's deer herd is "overwhelming the ecosystem," said Keri VanCamp, the manager of the Farm and Ecological Preserve. The deer affect the growth of forest plants, which in turn affect all the other animals in the preserve. High deer density can also be harmful to humans at Vassar, increasing the risk of Lyme disease and collision with cars.

President of the Vassar Greens Vanessa Raditz '12 noted in an e-mail that, "The Farm is meant as a research space for Vassar students, and so the deer not only end up harming the natural balance of this ecosystem, but they can also confound student experiments in these areas."

"Deer undermine the growth and survival of native herb, shrub and tree species, causing changes in the composition of forests," wrote the Committee in its e-mail to the student body. "Moreover…these changes not only lead to a variety of harmful, cascading effects on native insects, birds and mammals, but…may be irreversible."

"Reducing the number of deer would improve the health of the forest community, decrease the incidence of tick-borne diseases, reduce deer/car collisions, reduce the economic losses associated with deer browse on landscaping and help adjoining landowners who are struggling with these issues," explained the e-mail.

Associate Dean of the Faculty and co-Chair of the Farm and Ecological Preserve Oversight Committee Marianne Begemann agrees, stating that culling the deer is an effort to remedy "how our influence is changing all the creatures in the forest." Since the deer's natural predators have been driven away and the deer's natural habitat has been broken up by human actions, only human actions can control the deer's population."

The Committee chose to hire White Buffalo, Inc., a non-profit wildlife management organization that will send two or three sharpshooters into the preserve. The sharpshooters will stay in a clearing away from the boundaries and remove 50 to 70 deer. All this will take place at night and over Winter Break when the preserve is closed to minimize the impact the culling will have on the Vassar community. All the venison collected by the sharpshooters will be donated to local soup kitchens and shelters through Hunters for the Hungry. White Buffalo, Inc. has so far successfully removed over 9,000 deer in other operations and donated over 200,000 pounds of venison to shelters. White Buffalo, Inc.'s services were chosen in favor of the many other options explored by the Committee, which were not feasible for various reasons. Contraception, either surgical or medical, could be used on the deer to prevent them from reproducing any further but is not yet a state-approved method for wildlife management. Another method researched, fencing in the preserve to keep deer out, would create a barrier that inhibited the movement of other animals and would require constant maintenance.

Hiring wildlife management professionals rather than allowing local bow or rifle hunters to hunt in the preserve ensures a safe and humane hunt while allowing the culling to take place over break, out of deer-hunting season, so that as few people will be around the preserve as possible.

Since the Committee announced their plans, feedback from the Vassar community has been largely positive. "I believe that from an environmental perspective, introducing hunters to the area—in a very controlled and closely monitored fashion—would replace the traditional role of the deer's natural predators, thus bringing the deer population down to the level at which it can live harmoniously with its natural environment on the farm, and the farm can live harmoniously with the deer," said Raditz.

"I've been impressed by how the community has responded", said VanCamp. She attributes Vassar's acceptance of the culling to education about the issue, including public forums about the deer overpopulation last spring. The Committee continues to make their report and the results of their investigations available and welcomes questions sent to deermanagement.vassar.edu.