Devil's Den Deer Hunt Starts Today

The Nature Conservancy's annual "controlled" deer hunt at the Devil’s Den Preserve in Redding and Weston starts Wednesday and will continue through Dec. 10. Its says the purpose of the hunts are to reduce deer overpopulation and its negative impacts. However, Friends of Animals disputes the data in the Conservancy's Oct. 31 press release and asked its supporters to stop making donations and to demand a public hearing before next year's hunt.

The hunt coincides with the state-designated shotgun and rifle hunting season. 

"The Nature Conservancy calls itself a science-based organization concerned with protecting plants and animals, but there doesn’t seem to be anything scientific about its upcoming limited deer hunt at Devil’s Den nature preserve," a recent Friends of Animals press release said.

The Nature Conservancy said, "The deer management effort will only take place in select areas of the preserve's interior, away from the edges of the preserve and any neighboring residences. The Conservancy is working with experienced sportsmen who have been recruited by Devil’s Den staff members and have knowledge of the preserve and local area.

"Venison obtained through this management activity will be donated to Hunters for the Hungry, a statewide nonprofit group that accepts donations of venison for distribution to local charities and food pantries."

The Conservancy said the controlled hunts have been allowed each fall since 2001. This year's will place on weekdays only: Nov. 20-21 (Wednesday, Thursday); Nov. 25 – 27 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday); Dec. 2-5 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and Dec. 9-10 (Monday, Tuesday).

Devil’s Den will be closed to visitors on these days, and signs will be posted at all public entrances to the preserve. The Conservancy requests that residents and their families, guests and tenants refrain from visiting the preserve on these days.

A Case for the Hunts

Information from the Conservancy's press release says:

The size of the deer herd in Fairfield County varies from town to town; in 2000, best estimates of deer abundance were in the range of 60 individuals per square mile, higher than in any other county in Connecticut. The high density of deer in southwestern Connecticut has been associated with a high incidence of deer-and-vehicle accidents and Lyme disease cases. The Nature Conservancy has been particularly concerned about the ecological damage to the region’s forests caused by the excessive browsing of overabundant deer.

When The Nature Conservancy launched its effort to manage deer at Devil’s Den Preserve in 2001, very few managers of natural areas in the region were managing deer, and the deer population was well beyond the carrying capacity of the forest. For example, the only large tracts of forest land under deer management were two tracts of forest located next to reservoirs managed by the Aquarion Water Company, and these properties had only been open to deer hunting for one year.

Sustained over time, this unnaturally large population of deer damaged the forest understory and contributed to the gradual loss of native flowering plants. More importantly, many of our tree species, especially the oaks, were unable to regenerate because the acorns and saplings were consumed by deer. Any forest must have the opportunity to regenerate, and research has shown that deer densities of as few as 26 per square mile may prevent regeneration in oak forests. Less abundant deer populations in the range of eight to 12 deer per square mile are required for healthy forests with diverse and complex understories.

Today, deer management efforts have expanded tremendously throughout the region through the efforts of such conservation land managers as Aquarion Water Company; Wilton Land Conservation Trust; the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; the towns of Redding, Ridgefield, Wilton, and Weston; and The Nature Conservancy.

With these efforts, forest conditions have improved in those areas where lands have been under management for the longest periods of time. In the last few years at Devil’s Den Preserve, the Conservancy has seen the reappearance of such relict species as bloodroot and pink lady slipper on the forest floor beyond the cliff ledge refuges to which they were previously restricted. The structural complexity of the forest is increasing, as young oaks and such shrubs as pink azalea and maple-leaved viburnum are able to grow and more and more plants are able to flower and go to seed.

We are confident that our annual limited hunt, in combination with the increased deer management efforts regionally, will eventually maintain a sustainable level of resident deer at Devil’s Den and in much of the surrounding landscape of the Saugatuck Forest Lands, ultimately improving the ecological condition of these forest lands.

The following is from Friends of Animals' press release opposing the hunts:

In its Oct. 31 press release, the Nature Conservancy, which has been allowing these hunts since 2001, says the size of the deer herd in Fairfield County varies from town to town; and in 2000, best estimates of deer abundance were in the range of 60 individuals per square mile, higher than in any other county in Connecticut. They claim that the high density of deer in southwestern Connecticut has been associated with a high incidence of deer-and-vehicle accidents and Lyme disease cases. The Nature Conservancy says it has been particularly concerned about the ecological damage to the region’s forests caused by the excessive browsing of overabundant deer.

Wouldn’t a science-based organization be aware of the latest data and know that in 2012, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's fly-over deer count in Fairfield County showed a marked reduction in the deer population, down to about 40 deer per square mile since it’s last count, according to  a recent article in the Connecticut Post.

And while deer motor vehicle collisions have decreased, data from the Connection Department of Public Health shows the number of Lyme Disease cases (confirmed and probable) on the rise again in Fairfield County since they dropped off in 2009. In 2009, there were 699 cases; in 2010, 334; in 2011, 305; and in 2012, 357.

The scientists at the Nature Conservancy also seem to be unaware of a 2006 study conducted at Penn State University showing that deer exclusion in smaller areas is likely to amplify ticks and produce tick-borne disease hotspots where rodents are ubiquitous. They also seem oblivious to the work being done by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York. In a recent Huffington Post article, senior scientist Richard S. Ostfeld says, “What we've found is that white-footed mice are the most important hosts in producing infected ticks. Eastern chipmunks and both short-tailed shrews and masked shrews also produce quite a few infected ticks. Pretty much all the other things we've studied, including gray squirrels, red squirrels, flying squirrels, opossums, raccoons, skunks, deer, robins, veeries, wood thrush, and gray catbirds, are much less important in producing infected ticks. These animals kill lots of ticks when they groom themselves, and the ticks that do survive and successfully feed on them do not get infected. So, these species largely play protective roles when it comes to human risk of Lyme disease.”

Furthermore, if Fairfield County residents believe a smaller deer population means less chance of Lyme Disease, they may become less vigilant in taking preventative measures when they go outdoors, which is unsafe, according to the Center for Disease Control.

The Nature Conservancy has never done its own study on how many deer actually live in Devil’s Den, nor has it consulted the preserve’s neighbors or its members—members who support the organization because the Den’s brochure reads hunting is prohibited and who will be unable to visit the Den for 11 weekdays.

Friends of Animals protests the Nature Conservancy’s scapegoating of deer under the guise of preserving plants while giving itself and its land over to hunting interests. Friends of Animals advocates for other methods to protect areas from heavy browsing, like fencing that can inconspicuously protect sensitive plants inside the preserve. In its own press release, The Nature Conservancy says it has seen the reappearance of such relict species as bloodroot and pink lady slipper…and that young oaks and shrubs such as pink azalea and maple-leaved viburnum are able to grow. If that’s true and the hunts have been a success, why continue them?

Until Devil’s Den operates like a nature preserve, allowing nature to take its course, and prohibits these deer hunts, Friends of Animals encourages people to stop donating to the Nature Conservancy, express your opposition to The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Chapter by sending an email to Dave Gumbart, assistant director of land management, atdgumbart@tnc.org or calling 203-568-6290, and demand a public hearing before next hunting season.