Crew expected to return to Solebury this fall.
By: Linda Seida
SOLEBURY — On their third visit to the township, Wildlife Services sharpshooters killed 80 deer, and the crew is expected to return and continue the job this fall, according to an agency spokeswoman.
The 80 deer were killed over a period of three or four nights during the week of Aug. 20, according to spokeswoman Carol Bannerman. Twenty-six percent were fawns less than a year old, 27 percent were bucks and 47 percent were does. The recent shoot brings the total number of deer killed this year under a contract between the township and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to 264.
The township signed a two-year, $250,000 contract with the USDA’s Wildlife Services because a large deer population has resulted in loss of crops for farmers and nurserymen and a high incidence of vehicle-deer collisions.
"We will continue the work over two years or until the township’s goals have been met," Ms. Bannerman said.
According to the township’s Web site, the success of the program will be judged by measurable goals. These include an increase of corn production from 125 bushels an acre to 175, a 50 percent reduction in deer-related accidents, forest regeneration within 10 years and an increase in recreational hunting.
At the start of the contract in May, Solebury had a deer-vehicle collision rate of two crashes every three days. The accidents included two police vehicles last year, according to the agency.
The crew will continue the work through the fall, but Wildlife Services does not give out the exact dates, Ms. Bannerman said. In part, the reason is that sometimes crews are called elsewhere to handle other types of wildlife conflicts, she said.
The agency expects hunters to be part of the township’s deer management plan, but for safety reasons the Wildlife Services crew will not conduct a shoot at the same time local sportsmen are hunting, Ms. Bannerman said.
In late July, 35 property owners had agreed to allow the crew of federal workers onto their land to conduct the shoots. They represented about 11 percent of the township’s 27 square miles. Several more have signed up since then, but there is still a "significant area where we haven’t begun to work," Ms. Bannerman said.
Almost all of the property owners who have agreed to allow Wildlife Services to shoot on their land also allow hunting, according to Ms. Bannerman.
"There is one that doesn’t, for safety concerns," she said.
The contract calls for more than culling. It also involves a public education component, including how to avoid problems with deer or mitigate the damage. Also, a full-time biologist from Wildlife Services will begin working with residents in October.