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Deer Management Comments

March, 24, 2014 4:20 PM
I fully support the program in the hope that it will stop the herds of deer from destroying my plants in my yard and prevent some of the many deer collisions with cars on Enterprise Road. I have personally been involved in two such collisions and have had several close calls.
 
March, 24, 2014 4:18 PM
The large deer population in our area is a health and safety hazard to the residents. Currently many deers are being killed by vehicles. It not only endangers humans and damages property it is a cruel and highly inefficient way to eliminate the deers. I strongly support the program to reduce the deer population in our area.
 
March, 24, 2014 4:17 PM
Please, please do something to control the deer population in Fort Washington, especially near Fort Washington National Park! Your figures indicate 165-94 deer per square mile at Enterprise Golf Course and 78-99 deer per square mile in Henson Creek Stream Valley Park; recent population counts in Fort Washington National Park indicate 274 deer per square mile, when 20 per square mile is considered sustainable. And, of course, those deer are foraging in our neighboring properties. Like many neighbors, I have lost thousands of dollars of landscape plants. With their destruction of the natural habitat and the loss of so many native plants on my property, I also have far fewer birds, squirrels, bees, butterflies, etc. We have had to abandon our 25+-year practice of growing our own vegetables when the deer began knocking down our fences to get to the vegetables. The expense of deer repellents, exclusions, netting, etc., is like an extra tax for living in PG County. Most of us have experienced a vehicle-deer collision at one time or another, adding another financial cost to living where deer management is non-existent. And, more and more of my neighbors are being diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease. In addition to our financial losses, we've also lost many of the intangible reasons for living here. We've lost the privilege of enjoying our outdoor spaces when the deer excrement is unavoidable. We've lost the pleasure of gardening. I've even mostly lost the use of my backyard deck since the deer have now taken it over as well, knocking over furniture, etc., in the middle of the night. And frequently the smell of the deer excrement is too overwhelming to enjoy being outside anyway. More and more of us are finding dead deer -- without any obvious signs of trauma -- in our yards. While I understand the concerns of people who are opposed to hunting the deer, I find it to be a far more humane solution than allowing the deer to perish slowly from chronic wasting disease, black tongue disease, etc. And clearly the deer who frequent my property are malnourished because they so long ago eliminated their normal sources of nutrition. Now that they are resorting to eating tree bark, it is not possible for them to thrive. I would gladly give permission for a qualified bow hunter to set up a tree-mounted deer blind and hunt on my property.
 
March, 24, 2014 4:15 PM
I live in the Woodmore South subdivision, near the intersection of Enterprise Road and Woodmore Road. That means that my residence is very close to the proposed deer management area. My only hope is that the project will also reduce the number of deer I commonly see at my house. These deer cause many automobile accidents and do lots of damage to plants and vegetation. Thank you for your efforts to reduce the population.
 
March, 11, 2014 12:00 PM
I write to publicly support this County's plans to control the deer population (at Oxon Hill Manor). Prince George's County is at least 10 years behind neighboring counties in instituting deer population control on public land. I'm sure you are looking into sterilization of does as an alternative method of controlling the deer populations since this seems to be a currently popular non-lethal method. A 2006 study however found that sterilization of does is not effective in wild populations because of immigration and doe response to capture. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/0022-541X%282006%2970%5B268%3AMAODPB%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=wild Chemical birth control, although legalized in the state of Maryland, also does not work on wild populations, with an 88% effectiveness the first year and 47% the second year. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/research/reproductive_control/gonacon.shtml. I know this will cause debate however, I am in support of sharpshooting when it is done right and humanely and given the sensitivities in this area about guns, I believe that the hunters are must be very good at this skill before being subjected to such scrutiny. I hope that PGC takes this step forward as we are all hopeful for this county to reach its full potential in all areas.
 
March, 11, 2014 11:59 AM
I write to publicly support this County's plans to control the deer population (at Henson Creek Stream Valley Park). Prince George's County is at least 10 years behind neighboring counties in instituting deer population control on public land. I'm sure you are looking into sterilization of does as an alternative method of controlling the deer populations since this seems to be a currently popular non-lethal method. A 2006 study however found that sterilization of does is not effective in wild populations because of immigration and doe response to capture. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/0022-541X%282006%2970%5B268%3AMAODPB%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=wild Chemical birth control, although legalized in the state of Maryland, also does not work on wild populations, with an 88% effectiveness the first year and 47% the second year. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/research/reproductive_control/gonacon.shtml. I know this will cause debate however, I am in support of sharpshooting when it is done right and humanely and given the sensitivities in this area about guns, I believe that the hunters are must be very good at this skill before being subjected to such scrutiny. I hope that PGC takes this step forward as we are all hopeful for this county to reach its full potential in all areas.
 
March, 11, 2014 11:59 AM
I write to publicly support this County's plans to control the deer population (at Enterprise Golf Course). Prince George's County is at least 10 years behind neighboring counties in instituting deer population control on public land. I'm sure you are looking into sterilization of does as an alternative method of controlling the deer populations since this seems to be a currently popular non-lethal method. A 2006 study however found that sterilization of does is not effective in wild populations because of immigration and doe response to capture. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/0022-541X%282006%2970%5B268%3AMAODPB%5D2.0.CO%3B2?journalCode=wild Chemical birth control, although legalized in the state of Maryland, also does not work on wild populations, with an 88% effectiveness the first year and 47% the second year. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/research/reproductive_control/gonacon.shtml. I know this will cause debate however, I am in support of sharpshooting when it is done right and humanely and given the sensitivities in this area about guns, I believe that the hunters are must be very good at this skill before being subjected to such scrutiny. I hope that PGC takes this step forward as we are all hopeful for this county to reach its full potential in all areas.
 
March, 8, 2014 6:05 PM
I read the comments and am really disheartened by all that applaud the efforts at killing the deer in our area. Citizens are deluded by the pretty picture painted in the claims that we are helping the deer by shooting them. It seems that life would be better served if we stopped or at least slowed the continued development in PG County – we seem to have no regard for the wildlife in this area. The wild life was here before we were. We would not hunt down humans, but we have no qualms about killing wildlife; I find it disgusting. Is there some reason we chose to shot instead of spay/neuter? We would do better to control birth rates, instead of hunting deer in residents’ backyards (I live next to a park where sharp shooters are killing at night). There are other alternatives besides having sharp shooters come at night to do their dirty work.

We are slowly destroying the eco-system of our planet. We forget (or disregard) that all life has a purpose. It seems such a shame that with the intelligence that we have (as human beings) we chose to hunt down other species and call it just.
 
March, 6, 2014 3:20 PM
I applaud the proposed efforts to undertake deer management in Prince Georges County at Enterprise, Oxon Hill Manor and Henson Creek. I would ask that you also consider adding Fort Washington Park and the neighborhoods right across the creek from the Park.

I routinely see 4 or 5 deer in the back yard every single day. As with most other homeowners, these deer have destroyed our plantings. We tried all types of deer repellents, but due to the sheer number of deer, they were ineffective. Now we often see dead deer on the side of the road, which means that yet another car has been damaged and the driver and passengers put at risk.

I would invite you to come to my yard and consider it as a spot for trained hunters to set up. We have a back deck that sits high enough to ensure that arrows would be shot downward at the deer.

This deer issue has reached a point where the number of deer are dangerous - both to their own well-being and to the people who live in the area. Thank you for your efforts to manage this serious problem.
 
March, 6, 2014 3:20 PM
I am all in favor of controlling the excess deer population, through hunting.

No other method is a quick to show results in all aspects and outcomes.

Please put me down as a supporter.