‘Deer Doctor’ addresses Mt. Lebanon commissioners
Mt. Lebanon got its deer management strategy backwards, according to an expert who spoke at the April 27 commission meeting.
Sandy Baker, a consultant specializing in deer management (more specifically, deer-proofing gardens), said the municipality had attempted to implement a lethal deer management strategy based on incomplete information, adding that population reduction should be the final step in a comprehensive deer management plan, not the first.
Baker, who is the author of the book “How to Deer-Proof Your Garden in Five Easy Steps,”
She explained that a properly-enforced feeding ban is critical to managing any community’s deer population, likening residents’ gardens to restaurants for deer. “The root cause of the issue is that you’ve created an attractive habitat.”
She also encouraged the municipality to conduct a comprehensive, scientific study of the woodlands in the community. In her opinion, the prior aerial deer counts, which produced substantially different numbers, are inadequate assessments of Mt. Lebanon’s deer population.
“What’s happening is you are trying to make a decision with almost no information. That’s very difficult,” Baker concluded.
Also at the meeting, commissioners also selected Coleen Vuono as the interim replacement for Kristen Linfante, who resigned in March for health reasons. Vuono will serve until Linfante’s term expires in 10 months. She has prior experience serving as commissioner in the late 1980s.