Funding sought for 2010 4-posters

Cornell entomologist Dr. Dan Gilrein describes the visit from Nantucket Deer and Tick Committee scientists while Susan Walker, Dan’s colleague, reviews her notes.

Four-poster funding issues have been resolved for 2009, but efforts are still underway to secure funding for 2010, and a Department of Health report states that deer who feed from the 4-posters don’t get permethrin in their meat. That and other news was discussed in the October 14 and November 18 Deer and Tick Committee meetings.


FUNDING


At the October meeting Committee Chair Rae Lapides reported that the program needed about $32,000 beyond what was budgeted by the town but that further contributions were forthcoming; she was able to report at the November meeting that efforts to close the gap had been successful. The Shelter Island Deer and Tick Management Foundation had given $10,000 to the program as of October 1 and Ms. Lapides said that Cornell is receiving funds from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and will contribute between $22,000 and $30,000 to the program, more than satisfying the program’s deficit for the year 2009. Any remaining money, said Cornell entomologist Dr. Dan Gilrein, will go toward funding the program in 2010.


At the November meeting Ms. Lapides noted that negotiations are still in the works to fund the 4-poster program for 2010. The program may be eligible for a Peconic Estuary Program mini-grant of up to $5,000, which the committee is in the process of investigating.


Dr. Gilrein, who was at the October meeting, said that an unexpectedly large amount of corn consumed by the deer this year — more than twice the amount that was consumed last year — was part of what led to the need for more funding.


Fortunately, the corn consumption dropped off drastically due to the deer’s preference for acorns, which were in abundance in October. Because of that, he said, corn consumption declined sharply from a high of about 13,000 pounds per week in mid-September to around 5,000 pounds in mid-October. 


Mr. Gilrein said the 4-posters are working properly, and noted that there was much less clogging in the devices because of the fall’s drier weather.


DEER MEAT


In the October meeting, Susan Walker, a Cornell deer scientist, reported that she and fellow scientists collected deer samples on Shelter Island from October 1 to 14. The samples came from three deer that were known to use the 4-poster device, five “unknown” deer, meaning they may or may not have used the device, and one deer from North Haven, the study’s control site where there are no 4-poster devices. Sampling will continue through December.


The results of deer sampling completed on the Island this past summer were described in a report released on October 21 by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The report stated that three deer known to use the 4-posters (which had detectable levels of permethrin on their hides) had no detectable levels of permethrin in the liver or in meat from the neck or hindquarters. The report states, “thus, the health risks from permethrin residues when consuming venison from deer harvested on Shelter Island would be very low, and it is unlikely that anyone will experience any permethrin-related health effects from this source.”


This collection of deer samples is part of an ongoing permethrin residue investigation conducted by Cornell University. The Cornell Health Diagnostic Center submits analytic reports to NYSDOH for evaluation, and the NYSDOH in turn releases its own summary reports.


NANTUCKET VISITORS


Ms. Lapides reported that members of the Nantucket Deer and Tick Committee paid Shelter Island a visit during the week of November 9, hoping to learn from Shelter Island’s experience with the 4-poster program. They hope to use 4-posters on Nantucket and wanted to discuss with Dr. Gilrein issues of implementation, logistics, planning and the need for careful and frequent maintenance of the devices. Dr. Gilrein also talked to them about the importance of education concerning Lyme disease prevention, noting that there’s “even more education needed here [on Shelter Island] on prevention and alternative management strategies.”