Deer & Tick: Delays prevented early start to 4-poster program this year

At least some of this year’s 15 tick-killing feeding stations known as 4-posters were put in place on Friday, May 13. The devices were placed by town highway and Cornell Cooperative Extension personnel in locations that have been used in the past. They include South Ferry, Silver Beach, Sachem’s Woods, Goat Hill, the firehouses and several private tracts. The areas were chosen due to their dense deer and tick populations.

Also assisting in the installation was Jennifer Zacha, a clerk at the Shelter Island Police Department and Premier Pest Control.

According to Patricia Shillingburg, chair of the town’s Deer and Tick Committee, “We have pretty much killed the ticks on Shelter Island wherever the 4-posters have been placed.” She based her assertion on tick counts that were performed after the first three full years of the deployment of the devices.

The devices, which the town began using experimentally under a special state permit four years ago, have four posts on which paint rollers soaked in permethrin are installed. Deer feed on corn in containers located between the rollers, treating their ears and necks with the pesticide as they eat. Ticks concentrate in the ear and neck area of deer, which are their primary host, according to scientists who invented the 4-poster for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

There has been some concern that, because of permitting and other delays, the 4-posters were not installed early enough in the season this year to be effective. Ideally, they should be installed before or during the period of highest tick activity. That can be as early as March for deer ticks and mid-April for lone star ticks. Entomologist Dan Gilrein of Cornell Cooperative Extension, wh is managing the program, said the timing won’t undermine the ongoing effort to reduce the Island’s tick population. “It is an ongoing process,” he said, “with improving results every year, and even if a few [ticks] are missed, the program will still be highly beneficial. It just adds to the leakage”.

The 4-posters were installed later than usual because of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)’s permit requirements, the bidding of vendors for the feed required to attract the deer, and details involved in organizing the setup and care of the devices, Mr. Gilrein said. He gave the DEC credit for issuing the permit quickly after the town’s original three-year permit expired, but added there had been details such as site location and getting permissions from property owners.

Financed by the town, and with responsibilities being taken on by the town’s Highway Department, as well as assistance by the Police Department and Deer and Tick Committee, the town’s partnership with the Cooperative Extension is working well, Mr. Gilrein said. Aside from the effectiveness of the 4-poster, tick populations have been trending down beyond Shelter Island. “There has been a general population decline in North Haven and other areas of the East End,” he said, where the 4-posters have not been installed, “but the decline is even more significant on Shelter Island.”