This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

LYME DISEASE - REDDING, CT

Lyme Disease - Is Redding Headed the Wrong Way ?

      Is the town of Redding, CT  heading in the wrong direction for lowering Lyme disease ?  When we look at the last four years and see the results of Redding`s, " Scorched  Earth " policy to Lyme prevention and cure, one can only deduce that Redding,CT is headed the wrong way.  After reviewing the numbers from the last four years,  provided by both the Connecticut Health Department and the CT DEEP we can see that the deer population is now down 60% + and that Lyme disease, reported cases in Redding are up  62.5%.  
In 2010 the Redding, CT reported Lyme cases were  8  and in 2013 they are now  13.
      What happened to all the " Wildlife Experts " that said, " Less Deer = Less Lyme " ?   The latest numbers show that removing deer will not guarantee the lowering of Lyme. In fact many believe that there is no correlation with the removal of deer and lowering of Lyme.  When does Redding stop the destruction of deer in their town, when there are no more deer ?  Currently the only people benefiting from the removal of Redding's deer are the people that just want deer gone for one reason or another.
     Westport, CT has seen a dramatic decline with 57 Lyme disease cases in 2005 to only 6 cases in 2012. Westport has a stabile deer population of approximate 600 deer ( 26.8 dpsm ) per a recent Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) aerial survey conducted in 2012, and the town does not allow hunting. Westport has used non-lethal solutions with public awareness to combat Lyme and it looks to be working. Deer represent less than 1% of the total wildlife population in Fairfield County. Deer are the most visible, but you can`t expect to change an ecosystem with a percentage that low.  There are actually more scientific cases against the removal of deer to lower Lyme disease than are case`s for it.  Every case that is promoting the removal of deer would seem to have a monitory agenda behind it along with their inflated deer counts to support their theory. Conservationists believe that deer play an important part in our ecosystem and are only one part of the dozens of wildlife, animals and birds that frequent Westport, Redding and all of Fairfield County.
      The " Wildlife Experts " tell us to look at Mumford Cove, CT;   Mumford Cove is little more than a pre-determined outcome to a test study.  At only 213 acres it is less than 1/3 square mile with a deer population of approximately 4 deer. This represents hardly a proven fact of tick reduction with their tick reports up 2.4 times or 240% from  2011 to 2012.       Look at Block Island where DEM inflated the deer population 300% from 400 to 1,200 deer in just one year and tried to bring in White Buffalo, Inc. to curb the so called, deer over population and tick epidemic at a cost of an estimated  $200,000 + for the Block Island residents.
      Lets not forget Greenwich, CT where CT DEEP said the deer population numbers were 46.5 + per square mile and gave White Buffalo, Inc. access to the so called over population of deer. The total deer taken 80, which is 1.2  deer per square mile and the project was seen as a waste of taxpayer money.  Greenwich numbers were much lower and they did not have a  population problem. Estimated cost was  $60,000.00  for Greenwich residents.
      And then there is Redding, CT where the CAES increased the deer count total by 450% in just one year in order to continue to kill deer under the premise of over population and a theoretical ITM tick study.  Estimated cost of  $900,000.00  for US tax payers.
       And now we have Shelton, CT where CT DEEP, CAES and the FCDMA are claiming in 2013,  Shelton had 1,530 + deer or 48 dpsm, which is a 340% increase to the actual deer population in Shelton,  approximate 450 deer or 14 dpsm.  All this misinformation for the opportunity of commercial gain and the destruction of wildlife to save Shelton from their over population of deer and pending Lyme epidemic.  Estimated cost - Priceless
All these so called so-called theoretical studies have several things in common, the monitory gain for some and the wildlife loss for us all.  And the case of lower deer numbers equaling lower Lyme cases - None.
     The town of Redding, CAES, CT DEEP and Deer Alliance ( FCDMA ) will say anything to keep their agenda on track.  Even go the wrong way against the latest  CT Health Department and CT DEEP numbers that were brought to their attention and show no correlation between removing deer and lowering of Lyme.        With Redding scheduled to destroy another 25 deer in 2015 for the ITM study, when does the public finally say;  after four years look at the numbers,  we are going the wrong way.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?