Posted on 07/28/2007 5:04:07 PM PDT by Sybeck1
Whispers started with the first few gunshots.
Neighborhood rumors had it that a cotton farmer who leases land from the Chickasaw Basin Authority near the Wolf River was shooting deer on the property.
So when residents discovered nearly 40 of the animals had been killed and left to rot in the surrounding woods, they reacted with horror.
"I don't like to see (deer) slaughtered, and that's what happened down there in these cotton fields," said Brenda Flanagan, a nearby resident. "To me it's inhumane. ... What's gone is gone, and I would hate to see that ever happen again."
Angry neighbors also cited safety concerns.
"Our first concern was the brutality of killing those animals," said Arthur Wolff, who owns property on Bethany Road, a shady street that dead ends into the sprawling cotton farm. "Then there was the safety issue of shooting deer so close to people's homes."
Wolff, along with other angry residents, called officials from the Chickasaw Basin Authority (CBA), a state agency dealing with flood-control and drainage in a three-county area. The CBA owns a 600-acre patch of land near Collierville's annexation reserve in unincorporated Shelby County.
It turns out the farmer had been given permission by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to kill deer that were destroying his crops.
But as a result of the community's response, CBA's chairman, Charles Perkins, said they became aware of the safety issues and pulled the permit until further notice.
"We just thought it was a health concern and a safety concern because of the populated area being so close in proximity," Perkins said. "We put a stop to it."
Farmer David Ciarloni, who leases the 200 acres, is not happy about the decision, but he's going to wait to see what can be negotiated with the CBA.
He said the deer population has escalated in recent years, wreaking havoc on his cotton crop.
"It's not going to stop, and it will make this farm impossible to farm in the future," he said.
Although Ciarloni won't know the extent of damage until harvest time, he's estimated 30 percent to 50 percent crop damage. "It's an astronomical increase from last year."
Ciarloni grew frustrated with the deer problem a few months ago and contacted his landlord, the CBA, for a permit to kill the deer.
Ted Fox, the county's public works director who doubles as the CBA's executive director, said he sent a county employee out to examine the damage.
The employee corroborated Ciarloni's story -- that deer had eaten away at about 30 percent of the crop. Fox contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which issues hunting permits.
Gary Cook, TWRA's regional manager in West Tennessee, said state legislation allows farmers to receive hunting permits if they can prove significant crop loss. Called a "depredation permit," this license allows farmers to kill wildlife such as birds or deer that are causing damage to public or private property.
"It happens all over Tennessee on a regular basis," Cook said. "This is not something rare or unusual."
Each year, TWRA issues anywhere from about three to 10 permits to landowners in Shelby County. Last year, it issued 11.
A permit was issued to the CBA after TWRA officers sent to Ciarloni's farm noted significant crop loss and 81 deer.
Ronnie Shannon of TWRA said that contrary to popular belief, deer have been known to eat newer strains of cotton, called "Roundup Ready" cotton that has a salty taste. And because there's limited hunting in the county, the deer population has grown in recent years.
TWRA officials relayed this information to the CBA board, which voted unanimously to thin the herd during a two-week period.
Perkins, CBA's chairman, said the TWRA warden showed up to the meeting in uniform and with his rifle, leading him to assume that the officer -- not Ciarloni -- would be handling the problem.
"We thought the TWRA was going to handle the eradication," Perkins said. "We thought they were going to be onsite to supervise or do it themselves."
He was surprised to discover Ciarloni had taken a shotgun and killed the animals himself.
Perkins also discovered their bodies had been dragged off the cotton fields and into nearby wooded areas to rot.
"That concerned us because of the scavengers, the possibility of the coyotes moving into that area, the buzzards and the smell," Perkins said. "It was a general health concern."
Fox called Ciarloni and put a hold on the permit. The CBA held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue.
During that session, the CBA heard testimony from Wolff and other concerned residents, who complained of safety and health risks for the surrounding residents.
Perkins said the license will be pulled until further notice, but something will have to be done eventually to deal with the deer population.
And of the system chosen to hunt the deer, he said residents probably won't be happy about it.
"I personally am leaning toward a limited hunting situation although I suspect neighbors won't like that," he said. "This is a serious problem in Shelby County."
-- Alex Doniach: 529-5231
Copyright 2007, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
From a resident of Michigan standpoint, I have to disagree. I live in S.E. Michigan north of Detroit and the main reason for the overpopulation of deer is the lack of public lands in which to hunt them. There are so many subdivisions being built in wooded areas with the intent being to cause as little impact on the environment as possible that these small wooded enclaves are where the deer are making their homes. And there is no way in heck that these rats can be hunted safely........
I live in a very high densely populated area which happens to have a drainage ditch flowing along the east border of the sub and a wooded area about 1/10th of a mile square. In this tiny wooded enclave I have seen the following: 2 years ago beavers had damned up the drainage ditch which created a problem with overflow and the DNR had to be called to trap them and destroy their damn. I also saw a small herd of 5 deer, a coyote, a fox, 2 rooster pheasants and several hens, 2 grouse roosting in a tree and a small flock of turkeys...........
The bottom line is that what remains of their natural habitat is where they are going to remain and thrive. We can't shoot them so the only predators left are the cars and trucks that hit them on the highways.........
I'm not even going to mention the scores of possums, coons and squirrels that I have trapped and the equally abundant numbers of rabbits that I have shot...........
I know grown men, that are out and out afraid of guns. “I just don’t like them, I won’t have one in my house” etc. Yet two years ago after a hurricane knocked the power out for a week and the cops were busy one of the nancy boys asked if he could borrow one. I offered to sell him one and he refused and got bent out of shape. Tough sh*t.
“That concerned us because of the scavengers, the possibility of the coyotes moving into that area, the buzzards and the smell,” Perkins said. “It was a general health concern.”
That there’s what got him in trouble. He could have made a killing selling the meat or letting hunters onto his land, you know, to “help.”
Death to BambI.
Shoot, shovel, shut up.
Shame he had to waste the meat.
It’s illegal to sell venison in Tennessee
Heh. BambI. That’s rastafarian for “Bambi”.
Jah, mon.
Hear what you’re saying hon, but understand that if you don’t control the deer population, they get blue tongue and wasting disease to name a few, and die horribly. I’d rather see them killed by a gun and left to rot than go that way.
Shoot’em close to the truck.
I don’t know what TN regs. are - but often on depredation permits for deer or furbearers the meat, pelt, etc. can’t be utilized per the law.
Funny thing though, Bambi was a BOY deer. I hear of a fair number of people named Bambi, but they are all GIRLS! How did that happen?
That’s not the case in TN. They are encouraged to use the meat. But the heat in summer makes that difficult
Lemme guess..... More fun to shoot the deer?
According to my brother, Mississippi is that way. With these permits you cannot eat the meat and have to let it lay where is was shot. He is a cotton duster and has flown over many cotton fields with dear laying dead around the fields.
He uses a cotton dust on the leaves of his okra and a few veggies that the deer don’t like. But this year they have eaten about all his peas and corn. You cn bet he will have a fresh deer in his freezer soon.
Ok, the problem here is he wasted the meat.
He should have been able to offer hunting priv’s to get them thinned out. Shooting them and leaving them to rot is simply wasteful.
Because spraying enough stuff that would be effective would cost several orders of magnitude more than $30 in ammo - probably more than the cost of the damage.
To farmers (justifiably), deer are merely destructive pests. You wouldn’t object to killing 40 mice in your house, so why object to a farmer killing 40 deer in his fields? Mice are cute too!
Do you know what Roundup Ready means?
hhaaaa-haaaa-haaa-haaa-haaa
bad tasting stuff for the poor venison!!!
Why not declare open season and shoot the venison?
That will be some tasty eatin!!!
Better yet, they can be given to the needy to eat.
Win win situation.
Heck, I’ll even provide my own weapons and ammo if I can get in on the action.
Might even get to blast a few feral CATS while at it!!
Who-waa
Please read the entire thread.
If the deer ate thousands of dollars worth of landscaping, you might change your tune.
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