Fourteen deer killed and one immunized as part of birth-control experiment in Princeton Township.
By: David Campbell
Following a month-long delay in getting approval from the state, the third year of Princeton Township’s deer-management program finally began Thursday night, with the only hindrance to progress over the weekend being the heavy rains.
Fourteen deer were killed through sharpshooting and captive bolting, and one was immunized, tagged and fitted with a radio collar under the pilot birth-control program the township started this year, Anthony DeNicola of Connecticut wildlife-management firm White Buffalo said Monday.
Year three of the township’s controversial program began Thursday night when 10 deer were killed through net-and-bolt, in which deer are lured to baited net sites and dispatched with a captive-bolt gun that fires a retractable bolt into the animal’s head. One deer was killed by sharpshooting Thursday night, Mr. DeNicola said.
Three deer were killed through captive bolting Friday night, but heavy rains shut down operations soon after. Continued poor weather prevented cull teams from working Saturday night, and culling is prohibited on Sundays, Mr. DeNicola said.
"Conditions were horrendous," he said.
On Sunday, White Buffalo captured and immunized its first doe in a pilot birth-control program in which the one-shot vaccine SpayVac will be tested on up to 75 female deer over the next two years in the southeast corner of the township, Mr. DeNicola said.
"The first doe is vaccinated and collared and running around," he said. The deer has not been named, but was given the number 1, Mr. DeNicola said.
The wildlife-management specialist reported no other complications over the weekend.
The start of the birth-control program was delayed by illegal deer feeding by residents on Roper Road and Hemlock Circle, Mr. DeNicola said. The program was able to begin Sunday after the Hemlock Circle resident agreed to stop feeding deer, he said.
The township’s entire program suffered a setback of more than a month after the state Fish and Game Council on Jan. 16 unexpectedly rejected its deer-management plan by a 5-4 vote.
The council had some reservations about captive bolting and possible health risks to the public from the experimental vaccine, but were especially concerned about the cull infringing on the rights of sports hunters.
In response to the unexpected rejection of its plan last month, the township resubmitted its core proposal with added concessions to hunters.
The municipality agreed not to conduct culling on private lands under contract with hunting clubs, and to work with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife to study the possibility of opening some public lands to sport hunting in time for the 2003-2004 hunting season.
The concessions were enough to sway two formerly dissenting members of the Fish and Game Council, which voted 7-2 to approve the revised plan on Feb. 15.
Township officials have said their deer-management program is a safe and humane means to reduce deer-car collisions, the spread of Lyme disease and damage to gardens and the ecosystem caused by deer overpopulation.
Foes claim the lethal program violates state animal-cruelty laws and that the use of high-powered rifles in the township poses a hazard to residents.
The township’s goal is a herd of about 320 deer, compared to an estimated herd of 1,600 in 2000 before the start of the cull in 2001.
Last winter, White Buffalo killed 303 deer with sharpshooting and captive bolting. In 2001, White Buffalo sharpshooters killed 322 deer.
The Humane Society of the United States is expected to observe White Buffalo’s captive-bolting and immunocontraceptive procedures sometime this week, Mr. DeNicola said.

