White-tailed deer have flooded the village of Head of the Harbour on Long Island. The simplest way to keep the deer population in check is to hunt, but that has been outlawed in the village for decades. Now officials are turning towards a proposal for non-lethal contraceptive injections.
Village Mayor Douglas Dahlgard created the Deer Management Advisory Committee and has partnered with Tufts University and The Humane Society of the United States to conduct a study in Avalon Park to track and administer long-acting PZP contraceptive vaccines.
“We plan on starting the file operations in, this February and March. And we would repeat later on in the fall and then in the subsequent winters and probably run for, at a minimum, three years and possibly longer, until the population stabilizes.”
The proposal predicts 40 to 50 female deer will be captured in March using infrared technology and a dart filled with an immobilizing chemical. All will get ear-tagged so they can be tracked, and half will be given the vaccine. The other half will be darted with the vaccine in either April or September.