Community Corner
Managing Deer and Coyote in New Canaan
DEEP responded positively to New Canaan's request for assistance in developing a management plan for the town's deer population, but wants the town to get in line behind Redding.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection told New Canaan, in a letter responding to 's request for assistance, that they are, ."
What was unclear from the agency's response was when and with what funding they would assist New Canaan. , read the letter, to members at their meeting last week.
The letter went on to say that they are currently working with Redding preparing a plan and offered to report their findings there to New Canaan. Members of the committee were skeptical, given the population and terrain differences between the towns, that research done in Redding would be helpful in New Canaan.
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The committee, is charged with exploring means of managing what they say is the "over-population" of deer in New Canaan.
One project the committee hopes to undertake is fencing off a wooded area of about forty by forty feet. The plan is to use fencing that would allow small animals access, but exclude deer. One problem over-population of deer creates, said Smithers, is destruction of the understory, or small growth plants, in wooded areas.
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Smithers said they are in negotiations with the town to use an area of the town-owned Clark property on Smith Ridge Road.
reported recent motor vehicle accidents involving deer. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, there were a total of seven, bringing the year-to-date total to thirty-two. At this time last year, the number was forty, a difference Kleinschmitt and committee members attribute to the two major storms which hit the area this fall.
Kleinschmitt and committee members said their hope is that the involvement of DEEP could lead to a relaxation of the current hunting rules. They said the current season, which runs from Sept. 15 through Jan. 31, could be extended and they would like to see Sunday hunting allowed as well.
In New Canaan, only bow and arrow hunting is permitted. Kleinschmitt has a list of town approved hunters and there is no charge for their services, she said.
, said Kleinschmitt. She said large numbers of "quite healthy" coyote have been reported in town. She said, "if we get numbers that are incredibly high, we are going to see them packing up ... once they start doing that, I personally think you have more danger of them attacking people and doing far more damage."
