A controlled archery cull in Mt. Lebanon isn’t going as well as expected, and even it were, it might not be enough to stem the number of deer/vehicle collisions in any meaningful way.
Commissioners heard that and more Monday from the contractor hired to cull the local whitetail deer population, as part of an overall effort to reduce deer-related traffic accidents by 50 percent.
“We’re still getting calls from homeowners who are just inundated with deer,” said Tony DeNicola, the founder and president of White Buffalo, a non-profit wildlife management company.
Mr. DeNicola’s organization is in the middle of its second annual archery cull in Mt. Lebanon, but the number of deer harvested is only about half of what it was last year at this time, Mr. DeNicola told commissioners via speakerphone during a discussion meeting Monday.
The meeting was slated to discuss whether to again pursue a sharpshooting hunt after the archery cull is completed.
Last year, about 215 deer were culled, 104 of them through the archery hunt, which is conducted by off-duty police officers on public land. The remainder were harvested through the use of trained sharpshooters on public and private land.
The municipality is paying White Buffalo $9,000 to organize the archery cull, and the sharpshooting program cost $70,000 -- about the same that is being proposed for this year.
Municipal manager Keith McGill said two proposals from White Buffalo were received -- one for the culling of 100 deer and one for 150. Commissioners are expected to discuss the proposal at their Nov. 28 meeting.
Mr. McGill said the municipality had received permission from the state Game Commission to reprise the sharpshooting program this year if necessary.
However, Mr. DeNicola said that even if the two programs cull the same amount of deer or slightly more, it may not be enough to significantly impact the number of deer/vehicle collisions.
Through October of this year, the number of reported collisions with deer has risen from 49 in 2015 to 89 this year -- an increase of more than 80 percent.
Although the months of October and November are historically the highest for deer-related accidents --due to breeding and hunting seasons -- the statistics showed that there was a decrease from 18 reported accidents in October 2015 to 9 accidents this year.
More puzzling, Mr. DeNicola said, was the number of dead deer pickups reported by animal control officers. Last year at this time, officers picked up 96 dead deer, compared to 66 deer so far this year -- a decrease of about 31 percent.
“Something just doesn’t make sense,” he said of the statistics, which should be similar. “People are hitting deer with their cars at a much-increased rate than the past four years.”
Commissioners also have puzzled over the dramatic increase in reported accidents. Police Chief Aaron Lauth said the data is derived from 911 calls. Officers pore over transcripts for keywords, such as “deer” and “vehicle,” then an officer confirms that an accident took place.
“We haven’t changed anything in the way the data is collected,” Mr. McGill said.
Mr. DeNicola speculated that the increased number of accidents may partly be due to the inaccessibility of some neighborhoods where hunting can’t safely be conducted because there are no public lands or large swaths of private property nearby.
One of the frustrated homeowners Mr. DeNicola reported hearing from lived on Morrison Drive and said about 5-10 deer visit his property daily.
“There’s nothing within a quarter-mile,” Mr. DeNicola said. “I think there’s a lot of neighborhoods like that out there.”
Other officials have wondered if increased awareness may be behind the increase.
“How do we measure the success of this program?” if not through accident rates, asked Commissioner Dave Brumfield.
“You have to decide what is more representative of the status of the population,” Mr. DeNicola said. “That’s something you’re going to have to come to terms with.”
Resident Michalina Pendzich encouraged commissioners to wait about three years for more data before making a decision.
“Please continue the deer culling program,” she said. “The data for just one year isn’t enough basis for a decision.”
Resident Kimberly Schevtchuk said the municipality shouldn’t move forward without a third-party census of the deer population.
Resident Barbara Sollenberger agreed, saying that the municipality should pay for an aerial survey.
“I’m opposed to the [White Buffalo] contract proposal,” Ms. Schevtchuk said. “This commission has no objective, scientific data supporting it. All of your resources are aimed at lethal methods.”
Mr. DeNicola suggested pairing the cull with non-lethal methods, such as a sterilization program. The municipality gathered data last year regarding the feasibility of such a program, but the game commission denied them permission to move forward.
Mr. McGill said he will formulate detailed maps that should pinpoint reported accidents to reveal possible hot spots in certain neighborhoods.
Either way, Mr. DeNicola said the municipality may have to reconsider its strategy.
“You may have to kill 300 or 400 deer in order to get a reduction in accidents” this year, he said. “You can’t expect a change in collision rates with this formula.”
Janice Crompton: jcrompton@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1159 or on Twitter @janicecrompton.
First Published: November 8, 2016, 4:58 a.m.
