Deer Vs. Vehicles: Shelton Police Chief Joel Hurliman attended our meeting last night and shared the following (many thanks to the PD for compiling this information):
- Over the past three years, a total of 147 deer strikes were reported to the Shelton Police, an average of 49 per year.
- 79 of the deer had to be euthanized by the responding officer.
- These statistics include State Routes 108 and 110, but not Route 8.
- The number was pretty consistent in each of the three years (no big trends).
- We don't know what percentage of deer strikes are actually reported to the Police.
Lyme Disease in Shelton: Member Jeff Forte noted that the Connecticut Department of Public Health has published statistics online for each town (see here). For 2013, they report 29 "confirmed and probable" cases of Lyme in Shelton. The CDC estimates that only 10% of cases are reported nationwide. If this were true in Shelton, the real number of cases would be closer to 290 per year.
Crop Damage: Members wondered how much deer cost Shelton farmers. Member Dan Beardsley (Beardsley Orchards) said that deer cost the farm $10,000 per year, and noted that Guy Beardsley (Guy's Eco-Garden) no longer plants corn due to excessive losses from deer. Farmers can apply to the state for special crop damage permits to harvest deer, but member Brad Wells (Fairview Tree Farm) had previously described his unsuccessful efforts to obtain this permit after deer pulled out hundreds of freshly planted tree seedlings. Since the seedlings were gone, he was unable to prove any damages and the crop damage permit was denied. The Committee is hoping to obtain more data from Shelton's farmers.
