THE SIZE OF THE DEER POPULATION

Q: What is the size of the deer population in Fairfax County?

A: The exact number is unknown.  Fairfax County conducted a study of the population 15 years ago and, based on the study, provided an estimate of the number of deer in the County at that time.  Fairfax County has not determined the size of the deer population since then.

LYME DISEASE

Q: Do deer cause or transmit Lyme disease?

A: No.  Lyme disease is caused by the bite of the black-legged tick.  The black-legged tick tends to live in tall grasses or wooded areas.  Deer are the primary hosts for the ticks and as such serve as a buffer between ticks and people.  Infected ticks that drop from deer pose little risk to humans as they are at the end of their life cycle and will not feed again.

Q: Will bow hunting deer help reduce Lyme disease?

A: Bow hunting kills the deer.  It does not kill the ticks that carry Lyme disease.  When the deer are killed, the ticks seek alternate hosts, such as pets and people.

Q: How can we reduce or eliminate Lyme disease?

A: A device, called a "4-poster station" provides a feeding station for the deer that also treats the deer with a tickicide that kills the ticks.  These devices were developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2004.  They currently are used in 26 states.  The use of 4-poster-stations have resulted in a 92-96% reduction in the number of ticks.

DEER/VEHICLE COLLISIONS

Q: Will bow-hunting reduce the numbers of collisions between deer and vehicles?

A: Deer-hunting causes deer to disperse and flee the areas where the hunting is occurring and to enter neighboring property and roads.  A recent study by Erie Insurance Company in Pennsylvania concluded that the rate of collisions between deer and vehicles increased three to four times during hunting season.

Q: What can be done to reduce the number of collisions between deer and vehicles?

A: A number of steps can be undertaken.  Installation of wildlife warning roadside reflectors can be very effective.  The reflectors are designed to work during the dawn-to-dusk hours when 75% of the collisions occur.  The reflectors pick up car headlights and direct a reflected beam at the deer, deterring them from crossing the road into oncoming traffic.  Based on extensive roadside data, installation of the reflectors resulted in an 88% reduction in the number of deer-vehicle collisions.

In addition, driver education has proven effective.  For example, in locations where mobile billboards were deployed, warning that deer crossings were to be expected, researchers noticed an immediate reduction in driver speed and a reduction in deer vehicle collisions.

Another step is to eliminate the use of salt to de-ice roadways in the winter.   Deer are attracted to the salt and enter the highways where it is used, to lick the salt.  Many jurisdictions prohibit the use of salt and use salt substitutes or sand instead.

Another important strategy is providing an environment within the parks that is attractive to the deer, which draws the deer to migrate away from the roads and to the inviting habitat.

HABITAT – THE UNDERSTORY

Q: Some naturalists have expressed concern about excessive deer browsing and the implications for forest composition and the understory’s ability to maintain other species. How can we address this concern?

A: One approach is to draw deer to the interior of parkland and away from forested areas that generally form the perimeter.  Existing open spaces can be turned into deer-friendly browsing areas and change and limit the locations where we can expect to find deer in the future.  Deer routinely return to these areas even when the vegetation may be limited.

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Q: What can be done to address property damage caused by deer?

A: Some homeowners have experienced deer grazing in their gardens or landscaping.  One way to change deer behavior is to draw the deer to a more desirable location elsewhere on the property – generally along the fringe of the property, with preferred feeding vegetation.  Once deer identify the new location, which is more attractive to begin with, as it is further away from the noise, activity, and unpredictability of residents, gardens will be abandoned by the deer for the alternative vegetation.

Deer also can be drawn to more attractive deer grazing areas within the parkland.

PARK USE BY THE COMMUNITY DURING THE HUNT

Q: Will Fairfax County parks be open to residents while bow-hunting is going on?

A: Yes.  Fairfax County plans to leave the parks open while hunters are bow hunting, notwithstanding concerns expressed by hikers, bikers, parents, pet-owners, and nature-observers.  Residents have raised safety concerns and concerns about witnessing the hunting and wounded deer in the parks.
Closing the parks also has negative implications for County residents and visitors who are denied enjoyment of the parks paid for by the public through tax revenues.

Clearly the best solution is to leave the parks open and to prohibit bow hunting, which endangers everyone.

Q: Why is the County leaving the parks open in the face of these concerns?

A: The County has advised that it is leaving the parks open because is cheaper than closing the parks and monitoring their use.

ANIMAL CRUELTY

Q: Is bow-hunting cruel or inhumane?

A: The chance of deer being impaled and immediately killed with a broadhead arrow is extremely low; wounding and crippling losses are inevitable.  For every deer killed by hunters, at least one more is struck by an arrow and not recovered.  Over 20 studies of wounding rates of white-tailed deer conducted with archery equipment conclude that the wounding rate (deer shot but not recovered) is 50-54%.  The number of shots per kill averages 14.

The Humane Society of the United States, which represents 297,00 members from Virginia alone, advised Fairfax County by letter dated, November, 11, 2009, that:

"Bow hunting is undeniably one of the cruelest forms of recreational hunting due to the exceedingly high wounding rates associated with this activity…. [F]or every animal retrieved by a bow hunter, at least one animal is left to die a slow, excruciating death….

Before expanding any wildlife management program, an appropriate planning process should occur with representation of all who have an interest in this issue, particularly animal welfare concerns.  In addition to canceling the proposed archery program, we urge you to call for the formation of a deer management task force that will truly represent the public’s interest in this issue and engage in a rational, fair, and objective information collection and assessment process related to this matter."

Read the words of the bow hunters who conducted the Fairfax County bow-hunt in Vienna, Virginia, in 2009-2010, (click here), and decide for yourselves.

Q: What happens when the deer is hit by an arrow?

A: Even the most experienced hunters admit that it is nearly impossible to kill a deer with a single arrow, no matter how expert the hunter is.  There are only two shots that are likely to result in instant death for a deer by arrow – a double-chamber heart shot or a heart-lung shot.

When a deer is hit by the arrow, the wounded deer takes off running.  The deer eventually dies a slow and excruciating death, hours, days, or weeks later, from peritonitis (infection) or bleeding out.  Expert hunters are even more likely to wound, but not kill deer (novices archers usually miss the animal entirely).

FAIRFAX COUNTY DEER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Q: How many deer does the County propose to kill?

A: Last year, Fairfax County killed 400 deer. This year, the County plans to kill at least 2,500 deer.

Q: What protocols does Fairfax County have in place to ensure accountability? Notification? Management? Oversight?

Q: Who is responsible for locating deer that have been shot but not retrieved by hunters?

Q: What alternatives are available to the County besides bow-hunting to manage the deer population?

A: Several alternatives exist.  A device called a four-poster station has proven highly effective in reducing the incidence of Lyme disease by 92-96%, but the County is willing to use only a few 4-poster stations.  Another strategy is to make an attractive environment to keep the deer in the parks, but the County has not pursued this approach.  Evidence also demonstrates that installation of another device, a specific type of roadway reflectors, reduces the deer/vehicle collision rate by 88%, but the County is not interested.

Under Virginia law, the County also could seek permission from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to use contraceptive methods.  
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has used dosages of porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive on the deer herd at its Gaithersburg, Maryland facility.  In the first four full years of the program (1996-2000), the number of births was reduced by 72%.  Birth rates have continued to stay low and have stabilized; research demonstrated that the reduced birth rates are the result of the vaccine.

The PZP vaccine has been more than 90% effective in blocking pregnancies for one year in white-tailed deer in Fire Island National Seashore, NY and in wild horses at Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.  NIST also reported that the contraceptive can be easily delivered by darts, cannot pass into the food chain, does not affect normal mating behavior, shows no side effects, and allows a return to fertility when no longer administered.

The County has used sharpshooting in its deer management program in the past. Sharpshooting is a more humane way to kill deer, but the County does not want to continue to rely on sharpshooting because it is "too expensive" -- the County needs to close down and monitor the parks while the sharpshooting is ongoing.  Based on U.S. Census Bureau data for 2006-08, of the 3,141 counties in the United States, Fairfax County is the second wealthiest county, measured by median household income.