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To cull or not to cull? That is the question

3 min read

To cull or not to cull?

That is the question raging through Mt. Lebanon right now. Deer, usually the most docile of creatures, became a source of ferocious controversy in the upscale community after its commissioners approved a plan recently that would reduce the local deer population by luring the creatures into corrals and allowing them to be shot.

Putting it simply and bluntly, it sounds inhumane. But it’s a little more complicated than that. The commissioners signed off on a deal that would allow a wildlife management firm in the central part of the state to establish corrals at select spots in Mt. Lebanon. They would use corn bait as a lure, trap the deer within the pens through electronic gates, and then the deer would be carefully euthanized with guns that use silencers. The firm would be paid $500 per deer killed.

If Mt. Lebanon wants to reduce the number of deer roaming its neighborhoods, its options are limited. Hunting is obviously not a possibility with people and homes within close proximity. Sterilizing the deer would be more costly. The Pennsylvania Game Commission will have the last say on whether the plan that’s been hatched is both workable and benevolent, and we’ll defer to the judgment of these experts when a decision is finally rendered.

But we think Mt. Lebanon’s commissioners are correct to be worried about the number of deer that invaded the parks and backyards in their immediate environs. Though some argued commissioners and residents who support the proposed cull are simply kvetching over backyards marred by deer “souvenirs” or plants that were nibbled, the consequences of having too many deer within a densely packed locality are more than just cosmetic. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported last month 58 incidents of deer killed by vehicles, or vehicles being damaged by deer, were logged by Mt. Lebanon authorities in 2014. Three of those crashes involved injuries to people. Would any of us be so sanguine about deer running free in our neighborhoods if our cars were bruised and battered after an unexpected encounter with one, or, even worse, if we, or someone we love, were nursing serious injuries after a crash?

Numerous studies found vehicle-deer crashes cost Pennsylvania drivers millions upon millions of dollars every year. And according to a study released last year by State Farm Insurance, Pennsylvania now ranks second in the country for deer-vehicle collisions. Your odds of hitting a deer now stand at 1 in 71, an increase of 7.8 percent from 2013. That year, there were 124,000 crashes involving deer in Pennsylvania.

Deer populations were increasing across the United States, and also in parts of Europe and Asia, and they’ve been increasingly encroaching on subdivisions, suburbs and even urban areas, as anyone who lives in Washington can attest to. A counterargument is we are the ones encroaching on their habitat. Nevertheless, aside from posing a threat to drivers, particularly in autumn, too many deer can have a damaging effect on trees and plants, reduce cover for birds and can spread Lyme disease.

Yes, it can be a joy to see deer wandering peacefully across a field at dusk. It’s not quite as joyful when they leave that field and bolt out onto a crowded road while we’re traveling down it at 50 mph.

All good things in moderation, a sage once noted, and that should apply to the amount of deer we are willing to tolerate in our communities.

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