Panel Continues To Ask: Should Newtown Cull Its Deer Herds?

By Kendra Bobowick

They are stuck on the details.

Should Newtown include deer reduction as part of its tick borne disease management plan? Is evidence sufficient to support the effort? How low must deer herds be reduced to help drop the number of ticks carrying infections harmful to residents? Does any one expert or study hold the answer?

Although the Ad Hock Tick-Borne Disease Action Committee members did not vote on the subject, discussion raised a range of perspectives. Neil Chaudhary feels a cull, even if not reducing the herd to a preferred ten deer per square mile, would still be of help.

Mark Alexander countered, “I don’t think the town would get down to a point that is effective.” Members debated experts’ conclusions that at ten deer per square mile, the incidence of Lyme disease had dramatically dropped. Getting the herds that low is the problem. Sufficient funds and access to town open spaces with deed restrictions and access private property also are hurdles.

Dr Chaudhary said, “I am stuck in a couple of places. If we want to get to ten we have to aim for [reducing the herd] to 30 per square mile, and when we reach 30, push on …”

Peter Licht disagreed, saying, “As I see it, our goal has to be attainable … 30 is on the way to ten, if we have a viable plan I would go along with it. I think you have to at least see getting to ten.”

How long would deer reduction take? Would the town support it?

Maggie Shaw feels that any amount of reduction is a positive step. “We know we’re not going to get there [right away].”

Dr Licht felt strongly that educating the public about disease prevention is “huge.” A single dose prophylactic can also be taken within 24 hours of a bite. Were people educated on this, he wondered.

Tick checks may reveal ticks or a bite on the body, “but a lot of people don’t even see the ticks,” Ms Shaw argued. “They’re tiny.”

“A lot of people do,” Dr Licht replied.

While many experts and studies note that ten deer per square mile is the ideal goal, Newtown has roughly 60-plus per square mile, and Dr Chaudhary wonders about reductions to 30 or so per square mile. “What happens between 30 and ten?” he asked. No studies have an answer for him, however. “What happens in between? I don’t think nothing happens; I think no one has looked.”

He surmised, “Maybe reduce the numbers enough to reduce the probability of us getting Lyme. I don’t think we can get to ten, but I think it’s beneficial if we get to some number above ten.”

Members questioned whether or not they should make an effort to reduce the herd, even if they did not feel ten was attainable.

Kim Harris made an appeal: “The town is sinking and we have to do something. We’re not going to try because we don’t think we can get to ten and let the town sink?” She said, “Science is great, but we have to use common sense, too.”

They debated the logic of reducing the herd, even a little bit. “I don’t think anyone ever said if you reduce the herd a little bit, you reduce the chance of illness a little bit.” Dr Chaudhary said. “My argument is that there is missing evidence. No one has studied the illness rates of 20 deer per square mile.” He called the gap a “missing unknown.”

Members did not vote on whether they would include in their final report a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen to consider a deer cull program in Newtown. Discussions will continue in coming weeks.