Deer problems dominate discussion at meeting

WESTHAMPTON BEACH—The Westhampton Beach Village Board held a public hearing last week to test a deer control program that, if adopted, would pair local bow hunters with beleaguered residents as soon as this fall.

Residents came before the Village Board last Thursday, September 2, to recount their horror stories that involved large groups of deer vaulting fences, traipsing through yards, scaring children, causing car accidents and spreading Lyme disease.

“They have eaten almost everything green, including our hedges, as high as they can reach,” said Susan Gugick, a part-time village resident with a home on Tuttle Place. She said she supports such a deer control program for Westhampton Beach.

“I may cry every time I see the movie ‘Bambi’—but not any more,” Ms. Gugick said later.

The deer control program on the table mirrors that of neighboring Quogue Village, which three years ago began allowing hunters, after first securing permission from homeowners, to kill deer on their land during bow hunting season, which begins on October 1 and ends on December 31.

This week, Westhampton Beach Village Clerk Kathy McGinnis said the Village Board would consider public input from the hearing, and would likely vote at the next work session, set for Wednesday, September 22, on whether or not to adopt the program. The goal, Village Board members said, is to make a decision before bow hunting season starts in October, so, if approved, the program could go into effect this fall.

Village Board members said at the meeting that the program would likely require blocks of residents to band together and give collective permission to deer hunters to hunt on their properties. State law prohibits the discharge of firearms—including bows—within 500 feet of an occupied residence unless the owner allows it.

No one spoke out in direct support of the deer, but one resident, former Mayor Bartley Wilenski, asked board members if they had discussed any non-lethal alternatives to the bow hunting program with State Department of Environmental Conservation officials in recent years. Board members replied that the state recommended the bow hunting program, and that other possible programs, such as injecting the deer with contraceptives or sedating them and shuttling them to another part of the state, would not work for Westhampton Beach.

Mr. Wilenski’s wife, Susan, said the deer that run through her yard range in number from five to 22, and destroy her garden—though, she said, that is the least of her concerns.

“My issue is not the plants,” she said. “My issue is my granddaughter, who has severe Lyme disease.”

Ms. Gugick’s husband, Len, said that as the deer population continues to grow, the roads will become riskier for drivers.

“It’s just a matter of time before there are going to be a myriad of car accidents,” he said.