Deer & Tick: Deployment of 4-posters soon ‘unlikely’

The Department of Environmental Conservation is unlikely to approve 4-poster deer feeding stations for use in reducing ticks in time for the town to deploy them by mid-March, Cornell scientist Dr. Dan Gilrein told the Deer and Tick Committee February 16.

The DEC awaits Cornell Cooperative Extension’s final report on Shelter Island 4-poster study, an approximately three-year test of the efficacy and safety of the devices. The report is expected to be finished in the coming weeks. The DEC will “pore over” the results before deciding whether to allow the devices for use in New York State, Dr. Gilrein said.

The 4-poster applies a permethrin-based tickicide on deer as they feed on corn in the bait stations. The Deer and Tick Committee is charged with investigating whether the town should continue the 4-poster program if the DEC gives approval.

The devices were deployed in mid-March in 2009 and 2010. That is considered  the best time of the year to deploy the 4-posters so they can kill newly hatched tick larvae. The devices were deployed in mid-April in 2008.

Committee Chairwoman Patricia Shillingburg suggested deploying the 4-posters every other year “even if we have everything lined up with the permission from the DEC.”

Testing showed tick numbers were “very, very low last year,” Dr. Gilrein said, “so you can coast on that for at least a short time.”

The town has budgeted $68,000 for the program this year, but Dr. Gilrein explained that it would cost upwards of $120,000 to deploy and maintain about 20 units from mid-March through mid-December, the period that the units were deployed in the past two years. The cost of a shorter deployment would be less.

There were 60 units in the field over the past three years, though Dr. Gilrein has said that the numbers of units is likely not necessary if “key” areas are targeted.

The tick study has been supported by private donations and funding from the county and state, as well as the town. It’s not clear that the program will receive similar support beyond the testing phase. In 2009 and 2010, the 60 units in the field included 20 that Suffolk County Vector Control maintained in Mashomack Preserve, and the Department of Environmental Conservation provided $120,000 to close a budget gap.

Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty said during the meeting that the program is likely to receive more grants or donations once the program has been approved by the DEC.