I am writing in response to Bob Nixon's letter regarding the deer-killing program in Howard County ("Managed deer hunts can do the communities good," Oct. 2). In this letter Mr. Nixon perfectly described how Compensatory Rebound Effect (CRE) is a big issue following deer hunts in our area. Killing deer will only increase the deer population since it causes a greater chance of multiple fawns the very next spring due to increased nutrition available to the does.

I can understand Mr. Nixon's frustration as he witnesses deer eating his landscape. It seems that he is taking some of the right steps in preventing more damage, like using wire fencing. There are many store-bought repellents, such as Liquid Fence and Deer Away, that prevent damage to gardens. Also, there are deterrent products such as the Smart Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler. Hunting is unnecessary and it harms nature. Animal Advocates along with the Humane Society of the United Stated hosted a "How to Deer Proof Your Garden" seminar this past spring. We spoke to about 400 people during the two-day event, and most people left the seminar with enough information to co-exist happily with our wild neighbors. I would encourage Mr. Nixon and others to look out for our seminars during the next spring planting season, and to look at www.animal-advocates.org and www.deersolutionsmd.com for tips on how they can learn to co-exist with the deer.

Unfortunately, government agencies (such as Department of Recreation & Parks), the state Department of Natural Resources, politicians and even the media have been able to continuously misinform the public about these issues. If citizens only understood the connection between the information they are receiving and the fact that it was being generated by someone whose very job depends on perpetuating the myth that hunting is the only solution, perhaps even more people would speak out against these managed hunts.

Jennifer C. Grill

Ellicott City

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user comments (2)

user tim4trout says...

Nature benefits from regulated hunting to the extent that sportsmen (hunters, fishermen, trappers) are the backbone behind America's wildlife conservation efforts annually providing in excess of $1.7 billion in funding.

Without proper wildlife management, of which regulated hunting is a vital component, wildlife numbers can quickly exceed desired numbers in terms of both biological and social carrying capacity resulting in detrimental effects on ecosystems and their inhabiting wildlife as well as increasing the risk of unfortunate wildlife-human encounters.

Radical factions like the hsus, and deersolutionsmd do nothing beneficial for wildlife, instead choosing to compromise proven and successful wildlife management practices by perpetuating the mis-informative belief that regulated hunting poses a threat to our nations wildlife while consistently pushing the fallacious belief that excess wildlife populations can be dealt with through an expensive process called immunocontraception which by its own nature can not effectively reduce excess populations of deer and other wildlife.

Posted 11:25 PM, 10.09.08

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user lisbonite says...

And what to do about the fact that human overpopulation is mostly to blame for the "overpopulation of wildlife"?

And pray tell, who gets to decide the "desired numbers"?

It's always interesting to hear hunters claim to conserve those that they kill... Save the cows! Eat a hamburger!

Posted 4:19 PM, 10.13.08

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