HomeMy WebLinkAboutCozarelli - From a concerned Village resident.pdf1
Tayo Johnson
From:jcozzarelli@twcny.rr.com
Sent:Sunday, December 12, 2010 9:55 AM
To:Mary Mills
Subject:From a concerned Village resident
Dear Village of Cayuga Heights representatives,
I am a Cayuga Heights resident who has spent a large amount of time and money on gardening and
landscaping for our property over the last several years, and our yard shows the great efforts we have made.
The deer, who visit our yard daily and often in herds, are extremely frustrating and we are, all too often,
exasperated to find our new “deer-resistant” plants devoured in the night. The deer are ravenous and the
battle is never-ending. Nonetheless, my husband and I are strongly opposed to the deer-culling plan that the
board is proposing. While the idea may seem appealing in the abstract, in reality the plan should be
abandoned for the following reasons:
1. The plan, as proposed, will not provide a permanent solution, and, in fact, will have very little or no
immediate effect for property owners like me who live close to the boundaries of surrounding municipalities.
Deer in other areas will simply move in to fill the void, and reproduce at a higher rate.
2. It is irresponsible to spend the tremendous amount of capital required by the program, especially
when the community is so strongly divided on its implementation. As you should know, the tax rates in this
area are already excessively high and must be lowered, not raised. To add a new burden for an issue that does
not deal with basic services ignores this fact, and demonstrates a lack of concern for Village residents.
3. Other than for superficial reasons (yard aesthetics), the rationale behind the culling is not sound.
Deer aggression is rare, and those who do their research quickly learn that the tick that transmits Lyme
disease, despite its name, is carried into yards by small creatures, particularly chipmunks and rodents. A
chipmunk eradication program and clearing of brush from yards would be much more successful in this
regard than a program targeting deer.
4. Although I am from a family whose members hunt deer, the culling methods suggested in this
program are unethical. It is both wrong and dangerous to bait and shoot in a residential area, and the new
method mentioned recently on the news (to net the deer and then kill them with a bolt) is very disturbing. The
Village should not engage in activities that model undesirable behavior and could traumatize some residents,
especially children.
For these reasons and more, the culling proposal is inappropriate and we are very strongly opposed to having
our tax dollars spent in this way. While we, as avid gardeners and landscapers, understand more than most
the frustration and disappointment caused by the deer, we cannot support a plan that would be ineffective,
expensive, inhumane, and extremely divisive in our community.
Sincerely,
Julia Cozzarelli
104 Randolph Road in Cayuga Heights