Staten Island Buck Vasectomy Update??
Connecticut
Contributors to this thread:
For those that didn't hear about the plan, please go to the link provided.
http://nypost.com/2016/05/14/plan-to-give-deer-vasectomies-will-result-in-sex-crazed-beasts/
I could only find one update report saying 70 deer have been sterilized so far, and I'm guessing that $2 million dollar taxpayer invoice is going to result in a much higher cost per deer at this rate.
Interesting update on the deer herd count!! Should ring a bell for some of us in CT!! Someone forgot to count the deer they didn't find:)
"Only 527 deer were found on Staten Island during the city's latest aerial survey of the herd. Though this is less than the last count, the city doesn't believe the population has decreased."
Dr. Williams's Link
2 weeks ago they were at 169.
I thought it was mentioned in a previous thread that deer can't digest whole kernel corn?? What am I missing?
Deer can handle whole corn just fine when supplemented with natural browse that is readily available this time of year. A diet of 100% whole corn in February/March when virtually nothing else is available can cause problems.
But, I thought we were talking about taxpayers' dollars and now we are onto ruminant digestion? Seems like quite a leap!
Doc,
are you trying to start making trouble? :) I'm too good of mood to argue with you, so I'll pass.
I was talking about several things, such as how many deer were treated, was there an update that I missed, the new aerial survey results, how their survey had critics just like ours did in CT,...... and yet you want to just focus on the taxpayers' money being wasted on a process that was destined to fail. Not my opinion, but the opinion of highly regarded scientists from Cornell.
This is a program being run by the politicians anyways, not the scientists. Need I say more?
I thought you were passing. To answer your questions, again, yes, 169 deer were sterilized as of two weeks ago (9/29/16). Yes you missed the update and see the link I provided previously from 9/29/16. There are no new aerial survey results to my knowledge, only the February 2016 one that recorded 527 (http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2016/02/low-flying_planes_to_survey_st.html) which is considered a minimum estimate, as they all are. You were talking about taxpayer money and you jumped to ruminant digestion and I thought it odd. White Buffalo is far more experienced than the scientists from Cornell, even they will admit as much. The proposed program is being run by White Buffalo and only time will tell how many deer they can sterilize and if it will work. Hunters love to say that it won’t work before the effort has even started. But you should be happy, with each deer sterilized, the NYC taxpayer cost per deer goes down precipitously.
even if they were able to sterilize ALL of the 527 deer counted, it would cost approx. $3,795/deer!!! And if half of those are bucks it jumps to $7,590/deer. That's not a bargain in my book when cities are struggling with how to pay for education, road repairs, increasing crime, etc. This is not WB's fault, just stupid politics at play.
I think the underlying problem with the program is it needs to run for multiple years.. last year I arrowed a buck whose antlers were so small that I thought I was shooing at a doe. That was an 11 yard shot not a 30 yarder. So this years small spikes and button bucks probably won't get sterilized as visible antlers are probably being targeted. So next year you are going to have fertile bucks, and those short spike bucks that get passed on this year might get lucky enough to impregnate a few does. The additional problem I see is that if this does work, the Animal Rights Activist are going to use it as an example to eliminate hunting as a population control method.. However, what works on an island won't necessarily work on the mainland as you have a relatively captive audience on the island and bucks can come from other areas on the mainland.
Garbanzo
all of the articles I've read about sterilization programs, whether it's on bucks or does, is that they have very limited success for short periods on time. You're correct, unless you continue this costly process year after year it makes no sense based upon the comments from other biologists, not hunters. This is a political process based upon emotions and getting re-elected.