Millstone to thin deer overpopulation
Committeewoman calls for humane method of removing animals
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Officials talked about expanding deer-hunting season in Millstone Township last week.

According to Mayor Elias Abilheira, Millstone Township has “a serious problem” with deer. During its regular meeting on April 6, the Township Committee mulled ways of controlling the population.

“Our only option is killing the deer,” Abilheira said. “On our roads, people are getting into serious car accidents, and Lyme disease has become a huge issue this year.”

Abilheira said the number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the township has risen.

“Deer are movers and carriers of ticks, and ticks carry Lyme disease,” Abilheira said.

Abilheira said the deer population increased by 25 percent this year due to more development in the township, more fencing of property and limited permit hunting in local parks.

Deputy Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the deer are causing an ecosystem problem in the township.

“I love seeing the deer, but they’re wiping out the wetlands and clear-cutting vegetation,” Grbelja said. “The deer are causing serious damage.”

Abilheira said he has reviewed various methods used to control deer overpopulation.

“I looked at these machines that we would put by the feeders to kill ticks,” Abilheira said. “I also looked at situations where people used tick repellent or pesticides, but these didn’t work well either.”

The mayor said it would cost the township approximately $1,000 a deer to tranquilize the animal and inject it with a contraceptive.

“Even if we did that, the contraceptive would only last for a year, and then we would have to start all over again,” Abilheira said.

Abilheira said he didn’t believe a contract deer killer would work to control the population either.

“Some people in the township just don’t want to see the deer killed like that,” Abilheira said.

Abilheira said Princeton Township recently hired a private contractor to try to thin out its deer population.

“Princeton spent over $100,000 to get rid of 300 to 400 deer,” Abilheira said. “The contractor would trap the deer using nets and other methods, and then they would shoot the deer.”

Most committee members agreed that providing special permits to expand opportunities for bow hunting of the deer could be the only solution to controlling the population in the township.

Abilheira said bow hunters would have to shoot down at the deer from tree stands.

“I’m an admirer of this process because we wouldn’t have people with guns in the township,” Abilheira said. “By requiring that the bow hunting take place from tree stands, we also eliminate more of the potential of people or horses getting hurt.”

Committeeman Chet Halka, who said he loved seeing deer, questioned why the township would expand opportunities for bow hunting when the state already extended its hunting program.

“The state has already expanded its hunting program, and it’s not working,” Halka said.

Abilheira said Monmouth County also recently expanded its hunting program in local parks.

“However,” Abilheira said, “officials are doing overnight flights in helicopters with night-vision technology, and what they’re reporting is that the number of deer per acre in this area is just unsustainable.”

Halka said he wanted to have a representative from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife attend an upcoming township meeting and present detailed information on the deer population. Abilheira said the township would have to work with the environmental agency, a division of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), to expand hunting in the township.

Committeeman William Nurko said he would have no issue looking into expanding bow hunting with state officials.

“I would like for representatives of the state to come in and give us an update on where to go with this issue,” Nurko said.

Grbelja said she wanted to know if the township had other options in terms of controlling the deer overpopulation.

“I understand the need to curtail the deer population,” she said, “but I will be the lone voice to say we should look at alternatives to hunting.”

Grbelja said it is not uncommon for her to receive an estimated 300 e-mails from concerned township citizens when officials start talking about expanding the hunting season in local parks.

“I would appreciate if some of these concerned citizens would contact me now with viable alternative methods of controlling the population,” Grbelja said.

Resident Drew Connelly, who is chairman of the Millstone Township Democratic County Committee, suggested the township partner with local food banks and other charities in an effort to make the best use of hunted deer.

“We should work with local organizations to have these deer butchered and made available to those in need.”

Connelly said within 60 days of moving into Millstone, he “destroyed” his wife’s Lexus when he hit a deer.

“I was nearly killed,” Connelly said. “I’m an animal lover and not a hunter, but I do understand we have an environmental problem.”

Connelly said thinning out the population would also help the deer.

“Hunting the deer now would prevent them from starving to death in the winter,” Connelly said.

Grbelja said ceasing development in the township might be the only way to control the overpopulation.

“We have too many houses,” Grbelja said.

“If the township doesn’t deal with this issue now,” Abilheira said, “it could become overrun with the deer, and that could cause major health concerns.”

Township Business Administrator Jim Pickering said the township’s overpopulation could call for hunting on private property as well.

“There are so many deer on private land that the situation may warrant that we get hunters in there, too,” Pickering said.

According to the DEP Web site, New Jersey offers hunters more than 100 days of deer hunting, including seasons for bow, shotgun and muzzleloading rifle. In most hunting zones, multiple bags are not permitted.

The 2003-04 deer harvest in the state amounted to 69,456.