| JWissmille 2004-11-10, 4:08 am |
| http://www.timesrecord.com/website/...6DBA4D72A3C4052
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http://tinyurl.com/5b8ce
Lyme disease threat triggers deer hunt on Indian Point
Bob_Kalish@TimesRecord.Com
10/15/2004
Effort to reduce the density of the deer herd to 20-per-square-mile
begins on Monday.
GEORGETOWN - Residents of the Indian Point area here have tolerated
for years the growing presence of deer.
"Used to be, I'd see a deer while driving home at night, or in the
early morning," said Mary Webster, secretary of the Indian Point
Association. "Now they come right up to the house in broad daylight."
But what transformed the deer "nuisance" into the deer "problem" was
the rising number of cases of Lyme disease during the past two years. In
that time, three Indian Point residents and one pet have been diagnosed with
the disease, which is carried by the deer tick.
Last fall, residents invited researchers from the Maine Medical Center
Research Institute to come to Georgetown and help them determine how big a
problem they had. A team of tick experts spent four hours in the
one-square-mile area of the Indian Point Association.
"They collected 84 ticks," Webster said. "And of those, 49 percent of
those ticks were infected with Lyme disease."
"The number of infected ticks was three times that found at Reid State
Park," said Jack Norton, an association member. Norton and other residents
swung into action by declaring war on the deer tick and the hosts who carry
them.
"We are overloaded with deer," Norton said.
Association members met with state officials, who decided the deer
population needed to be reduced and the way to reduce it was to hold a
"controlled hunt." Similar hunts have been used to control deer populations
on islands such as Swans Island and Great Diamond Island.
On Monday a team of 20 hunters using bows and arrows, plus two with
shotguns, will descend upon the Indian Point settlement, which is
approximately one square mile, and begin hunting those deer under the
supervision of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
According to state biologist Jim Connolly, the controlled hunt is not
open to just any hunter.
"They have to receive deer management permits from IFW," Connolly
said. "And those permits are good only for use on the Indian Point
Association."
For a hunter to get a permit, he or she must have taken the
Bowhunters/ Landowners Information Program. According to the Web site of the
Maine Bowhunters Association, the idea behind that program is to "allow the
selection of ethical hunters who understand the importance of relations with
landowners, other hunting groups and the concerns of the non-hunting
community."
In addition to having completed the BLIP course, hunters must not have
had any revocation of their hunting license, must have tagged at least one
big game animal or turkey in Maine with a bow within the past four years and
must be 18 years old or older.
Connolly said the targeted Indian Point area contains between 40 to 60
deer per square mile.
"We like to keep the deer at under 20 per square mile," he said.
The bow hunters get to keep any deer they kill, Connolly said, and
those deer taken during a controlled hunt do not count against bag limits
specified for regular hunting season.
"It's just like the regular deer hunting season," he said. "Except
that for the first few weeks, until Nov. 23, no weekends, then from Nov. 29
to the end, they can hunt on Saturdays."
Most of the bow hunters work during the day, Connolly said, so the
hunters will not be converging on the area all at one time.
"When they get there, they check in with the landowner," he said.
"Residents won't be overwhelmed by their presence. Some days you may have a
handful of hunters, other days none."
According to the Lyme Disease Research Laboratory, Lyme disease is
caused by a bacterium transmitted to humans and domestic animals through the
bite of the deer tick. It starts with a rash and flu-like symptoms but can
lead to arthritis and neurological problems if it's not treated. By the end
of 2003, according to the Bureau of Health Web site, more than 600 cases of
the disease had been reported in the state.
Although early medical treatment is effective, prevention is safer.
Residents of areas infested with Lyme disease-carrying ticks should take
precautions such as wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when out in
the woods, use a repellent and inspect closely for ticks to remove when
coming in from outside.
(C) 2004
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