Flyover upcoming to count deer
The Deer & Tick Committee expects to have a better idea about the effectiveness of its efforts to decrease the herd on Shelter Island from the results of a flyover anticipated to take place later this month.
The flyover that was planned for 2020 had to be canceled because the pilot contracted COVID-19.
Numbers released at last week’s Deer & Tick Committee meeting revealed a drop in the number of deer taken through the end of December.
That could be a reflection of fewer deer on the Island, but could also have resulted in fewer hunters because of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantines and lock downs, committee member Dr. Jim Bevilacqua said. He said he knows a few hunters who opted not to participate in the effort this year because of pandemic concerns.
The “deer damage permit hunt” is underway with three specially licensed hunters participating and a possibility that a fourth might join the effort, according to Animal Control Officer Beau Payne.
Deer damage, or “nuisance,” hunting helps communities overrun with deer by allowing special licenses issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to hunt outside the regular, or “recreational” hunting seasons.
During the recreational hunt, Officer Payne reported that, as of the end of December, 29 hunters had taken 85 deer. In 2019, 43 hunters had taken 129 deer. Of the 85 taken up to the end of December, 57 were from 19 town- managed properties compared with the same period in 2019 when 71 deer were taken from 22 town-managed properties.
Through the end of 2020, 73 deer were placed in the cold storage unit at the Cobbetts Lane Firehouse as compared with 70 in 2019. Of those, 34 were taken back by hunters for their personal use, compared with 29 in 2019.
Mr. Payne said 450 pounds of meat have been available without charge at a refrigeration unit at the town recycling center.
The current committee membership stands at seven, but Dr. Bevilacqua got endorsement at last week’s meeting to work toward cutting that number to five. No one will be asked to leave the existing committee, but as terms expire, he assumes some will opt not to continue to serve and no replacements will be appointed unless membership drops below five.
The Deer & Tick Committee expects to hold six meetings per year instead of 12, although additional meetings could always be added.
Dr. Bevilacqua created an education subcommittee that will be chaired by Julia Weisenberg. Subcommittee members will include Scott Campbell and Alex Novarro, to create use of social media to get information out to the public and to develop other means of reaching people who aren’t going to the committee’s website.
Dr. Bevilacqua said he anticipates creating two other subcommittees — one on tick management and the other on deer management — at a later date.
