Hunter Shoots Deer On The Grounds Of Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays

It was a sunny, but frigid morning in Hampton Bays on January 4, when the sound of gunshots pierced the typical Tuesday morning atmosphere at the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center. Staff at the center had grown used to the sound of shots fired on nearby state property, but these shots sounded close.

Too close.

The center’s executive director, Virginia Frati, raced outside and confronted a gruesome site on center property not far from its outbuildings: a deer was shot, its legs flailing in the air and the hunter standing almost alongside the “no hunting” sign that marks the boundary between Henry’s Hollow, the 219-acre state hunting tract, and the county land that’s home to the center as well as an adjacent walking trail.

“I said, ‘What are you doing? This is a wildlife hospital.’ And he said, ‘Sorry, I was lost.’” Frati recounted, showing the scene on Thursday, January 6. The executive director dragged the fatally injured animal into a nearby shed, its blood spattering her clothes, her glasses. “I was trying to help the deer, and in the meantime, he [the hunter] took off,” she said. She was able to show The Press the spot where the deer had been hit, tufts of fur, blood, part of the deer’s intestines could be found well inside the “no hunting” zone.

“They’re supposed to be 500 feet from any structure,” Frati said. The shooting took place much closer than that, less than 50 feet from an animal enclosure

Once the creature perished, Frati emerged from the shed and called police and the Department of Environmental Conservation. DEC officers Jacob Clark and Robert McCabe arrived, found and questioned the hunter, a man from Central Islip, who by then had been located in a parking area on Flanders Road. He’d gone into the legal parking area, but said he ended up in the area where hunting is prohibited because he got lost. Officer Christopher DeRose and K9 Cramer also responded and found three spent shotgun shells within 500 feet of the occupied buildings.

So far, no charges have been filed.

Almost 20 years ago Suffolk County, the rescue center’s landlord inked an agreement with the state that allows hunters to walk across its property located to the east of the landlocked Henry’s Hollow. Prior to that, there was no hunting on the site because it wasn’t easily accessible.

Then, without warning, staff at the rescue center began hearing gunshots during hunting season. That’s how they learned about the deal.

Staff found arrows on the property, Frati said. And one day a hunter walked through the property, a shotgun on his shoulder.

It upset staff members who work so hard to rescue injured animals, the idea one may be killed just a stone’s throw away, the director explained. She believes the deer she held as it died might have been one of the animals rescued and treated at the center. Under the ministrations of the staff, the animals can become tame.

Additionally, “We walk through here,” she noted, pointing out how dangerous the hiking trail could become. “I walk these trails every day.”

Bullets found embedded in a wall and holes showing a trajectory through several sheds and enclosures, could have struck a staff member last week. “Who comes to work and has to worry about getting shot? Or to come to work and go home in bloodstained clothes?” Frati asked on Thursday afternoon, still clearly shaken by the events two days prior. “I was inconsolable,” she said, speaking of the hours after the incident. “I couldn’t even talk.” That night and since, she said,“Every time I shut my eyes, I keep seeing the deer.”

After the first fusillade of gun fire in 2004, Frati began a long — and fruitless, to date — letter-writing effort beseeching the county and state to reconsider the agreement. In one 2013 letter to the DEC after the discovery of the arrow , she wrote, “We chose this facility due to its quiet, expansive and undisturbed environment where we could insulate the animals from the presence of humans while they recuperate from their injuries. It is cruel to allow wildlife that have suffered trauma to begin with to experience fear while in their enclosures that they cannot escape from.” She asked if, at the least, the buffer area between the center and hunting grounds could be increased from 500 feet to 1,000 feet.

In 2009, she wrote the then-county parks commissioner expressing concern for the safety of children participating in educational programs that include traversing the nature trail. County commissioners and state officials who responded to her letters all expressed support for the continuation of the agreement and no intention of changing it.

Asked to comment on last week’s shooting, the Suffolk County Parks Department forwarded a statement via email: “This incident is currently under investigation by the NYS DEC. Hunting is strictly prohibited on the county property, adjacent to the NYS owned and managed hunting land. The county has reached out to the DEC, who owns the property, to request further information.”

By Wednesday morning, the DEC offered a statement : “DEC’s investigation is ongoing. DEC is conferring with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and charges against the hunter are pending.

“Hunting is prohibited on Munns Pond County Park where the Evelyn Alexander Animal Rescue Center is located. The park is adjacent to the State-owned Henrys Hollow Pine Barrens State Forest. Hunting is prohibited within 500 feet of a dwelling, farm building, or structure in occupation or use unless the hunter owns it, leases it, is an immediate member of the family, an employee, or has the owner’s consent. “

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming said Monday that she called on the DEC to suspend hunting in the area until the investigation is complete. While it’s pending, she said she couldn’t comment further.