HomeMy WebLinkAboutDegrea, Sherrie.PDFDecember 20,201I
To the Mayor and Board of T'rustees:
My husband and I moved to Cayuga Heights 11 years ago because we were attracted to
the peaceful, quiet neighborh,ood within walking distance of Comell. At the time, we didn't
rcalize that there was a "deer problem" in Cayuga Heights because the village was sterilizing the
deer and the herd was kept to a manageable number. We could grow any type of perennial in our
front garden and the <leer did not touch them. Then the sterilization program stopped and
gradually the deer proliferated.
Despite what your paid consultant has told you, sterilization does work in controlling the
deer population. It will not turn our peaceful village into a war zone where all the residents have
to be hyper-vigilant so that neither we nor our pets become victims of a stray bullet of a hired
sharpshooter. I urge you to commit the village to sterilizing 60 deer, as was allowed in the
original plan, and evaluate the impact of that on the deer herd. Combined with a new fencing law
and natural attrition, sterilizailion will allow us to control the deer herd without resorting to lethal
methods. I understand sterilizntion is expensive so I am offering as a private citizento help set up
a fund that would collect donations from people who want to pay to sterilize the deer.
If you pass L<lcal Lavu J, you will destroy everything we love about Cayuga Heights. I
would like you to consider the psychological impact of allowing sharpshooters to kill deer with
firearms at undisclosed locatiLons in the village. I walk my dog about 3 or 4 times a week in the
woods of the old gro,'vth forest, off Triphammer Road. How do I know that the sharpshooters
won't mistake my gollden retriever, who weighs about 70 pounds, for a deer as she runs across
the field with other dogs we rreet in the fields at the end of the wooded path? Some of my dog-
walking friends take their do;gs to the fields behind Kendall. I understand you would like to have
deer shooting take place in a gulley in that area. What will be the impact of the shots from
firearms on the senior citizen's who live in Kendall? Two years ago, my mother-in-law died in a
nursing home in Ithaoa, after having lived there for two years. I know that she would not have
wanted to listen to bullets being fired day after day while she lived out the last years of her life.
What about our child.ren? Onae they hear that sharpshooters are shooting guns at deer in hidden
locations, will they be afraid to ride their bikes around the neighborhood?.
None of this is necessary. Please do not pass Local Law J or it will destroy Cayuga
Heights forever. Please give sterilization a chance, and let the citizens work with you to make
that happen. Thank you for y'our time.
Sherrie Negrea
204E. Upland Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
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Mary Mills
From: Beatrice Szekely Ibeatricre@twcny.rr.com]
Sent: Friday, December 16,2011 3:10 PM
To: Sherrie Negrea
Cc: VOH-Trustees
Subject: Re: Letter about Deer Plian from Concerned Residents
Dear Sherrie and Patrick,
cc: Cayuga Heights Mayor and Trustees
Thank you for your eloquent letter that continues our communication about how to remedy the over
population of deer in the V'illage. I remain convinced that sterilization and culling are the best way to
proceed.
Responding to your concerns:
I assure you that deer vehicle auto colllisions are taking place routinely in the Village, not only on route
'13. Village police officers are called upon to destroy deer that are severely injured when they run into
cars. Several deer died this fall impaled on fencing. I respectfully disagree that deer resistant plants will
allow village gardens to flourish; asi is known, hungry deer feed on more and more plant species. Where
not protected by fencing, the understory of shrubbery, native and imported plants, and ground covers
have simply been destroyed. lt's splendid, of course, that your dog is immunized given the increased
incidence of Lyme diseaser in Cayuga Heights and throughout Tompkins County correlating with the over
population of deer.
Please be assured that any culling by firearms will take place from elevations to assure downward
trajectories of frangible bullets that scatter upon impact to avoid richocheting. White Buffalo with whom
we hope to contract for both steriliz:ation and culling is a highly respected 501 c(3) organization that has
killed thousands of deer without accident.
Sterilization of 20 does is our immeldiate goal. As is known, for culling to begin permission must be
gained from every owner of a building within a 500 feet radius of any location where a firearm might be
discharged. Discharging weapons in the Village is not to be taken lightly. Safety precautions will be taken
in concert with the Village's police rJepartment. And, we will indeed be evaluating every step of the
process with input from the Natural Resources Department at Cornell .
In closing, there will be a public heraring on Wednesday morning at 9:00 on the proposed law to make it
legal for agents contractecl by the \/illage for such a special purpose as culling the deer herd to discharge
a firearm should you wish to attencl and speak.
with appreciation,
Bea
----- Orisinal Messase -----
From: Sherlie Neqrea
To: bszekely@cayug€:hei glrts. nv. us
Sent: Wednesday, December 141,201'1 9:43 PM
Subject: Letter about Deer Plan from Concerned Residents
December 1"4,2013-
Dear Bea,
When we first moved to Cayuga Heights ten years ago, the deer roaming the village were being
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sterilized and the deer had a minimal impact on the community. we remember growing a wide variety ofperennials in our front yard and they were never touched by deer. one of our cars was hit by a deer severalyears ago, but that was on Route L3, outside the village limits, and there were fewer accidents involving deerin the village than there are now.
once the sterilization project stopped, the deer proliferated. Despite the impact on flower gardens and thepositive result our dog has received for antibodies to Lyme disease, we believe large-scale slaughter of thedeer herd is the worst of all possible solutions for the current population. Deer-resistant flowel, fencing andvaccination can all contribute to coexistence with the deer in a manner that promotes the aestheticappearance of our neighborhoods and the health of humans and pets. such measures, taken in conjunctionwith a concerted effort t'o reduce the herd to a manageable and sustainable size through sterilization andnaturalattrition, are far more humane and, of course, far more pragmatic in terms of risk management.
we would like to recomnnend that the village take matters one step at a time, starting with an initiative tosterilize 60 does, rather than 20, as suggested by some of the plans, so that many existing families of deer canremain intact' This would be a conciliatory measure to those cayuga Heights residents who do not want to seethe deer killed. Then it sl"rould be determined if this sterilization has had in impact on the herd size, inconjunction with passive measures taken by property owners to protect their gardens and the health of theirTamilres.
we urge you to consider risk management as you proceed with any plan to control deer. Any programinvolving the use of firearms anywhere within village limits, no matter how carefully planned, implies anelevated risk for human residents and their domesticated animals. we often walk our dog, for example, in theold growth forest off Triphammer Road, which leads to a wide-open field adjacent to the new corneil Day carecenter' There are many residents who walk their dogs in these woods and fields. lf this or similar sites are usedfor population management through lethal means, the risk of accident for residents and their pets would bequite real.
we would also like to point out that there is a stark difference between shooting a deer and bringing it down,A wounded deer can run, panicked, for a considerable distance, endangering vehicular traffic anJ pedestrians
in the village' How will village-contracted hunters finish off wounded deer if the creatures move ontoresidential properties whr:re dischrarge of firearms is not permitted?
Finally, there are psychological considerations. Many residents of Cayuga Heights, including children, opposethe slaughterof these creatures in the manner proposed, to the extent projected. The idea of living in a villagewith an active killing program in lir:u of other methods of managing the deer herd over time is, for many,spiritually inconsistent with their ideals as well as unwelcome in terms of their fiscal support of the village.
Given both the acrimonygenerated and the inherent risks compounded by resorting to firearms, we believethe village can achieve for itself a loftier, more sensitive and ultimately more humane approach to the deerpopulation of cayuga Heights by exhausting all nonlethal means of control.
Thank you very much for rTour consideration.
Sincerely,
Sherrie Negrea and Patricl< J. Stevetns
2O4 E. Upland Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
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