Deer carry disease

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

The excellent Nov 13 article by Jay Friess on deer can be supplemented by information on the reduction in Lyme disease. Hunting of deer is necessary since the wolf and cougar are gone, with our goal being presettlement density of 10 to 20 per square mile.

Lyme disease is an infection caused by bacteria carried and transmitted into yards and forests.

Numerous studies have shown that deer population management is a critical tool to reduce human incidences of Lyme disease. At Mumford Cove in Connecticut, for example, deer numbers were reduced by hunting to 10.4 deer per square mile and there are now only two to three Lyme cases a year compared to 30 new cases a year prior to the deer control, according to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. 

Marc Imlay, Bryans Road

The writer is a conservation biologist with the Anacostia Watershed Society.