Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/92498
Although firearms can be more effective than bow hunting deer, Conservation Com - missioner Brian Donahue says they consid- ered shotguns "unsafe and uncomfortable for public land devoted heavily to other recre- ational use." And while contraceptive darts are used to slow herd growth in free-ranging populations, primarily on islands, that method is labor intensive, requiring enough female deer to be captured and treated every year to be effective. "Bow hunting won't have an immediate impact but the Commission found no other feasible way to deal with the problem," says Donahue, a professor of envi- ronmental studies at Brandeis and a founder of Land's Sake Farm. Actually they found multiple problems. "Crop damage has run into tens of thou- sands of dollars on commercial farms— pumpkins, squash, greens," he says. "Deer will graze just about anything and fencing is both expensive and a lot of work." Moreover, some 30 deer-related vehicle accidents are reported to the Weston Police every year. "Collisions are often fatal to the deer and potentially to humans. Those of us who work outside are at risk for Lyme disease. I've had it and so have my kids. What we know is that when there were no deer, there was no Lyme disease." It's an exaggeration, say opponents includ- ing Weston resident Diane Anderson who worries about safety and what bow hunting teaches our children. Anderson researched the 111 winter 2012/2013 | WellesleyWeston Magazine