Feb 23, 2015 2 min read

While trying to keep both perspectives in mind, I feel I have to speak my mind on the deer culling issue in Mt. Lebanon. First is the fact that this was done in other boroughs, specifically, Bethel Park, and I see no major difference in deer population. Second, through the history of man’s “control” of animals as top of the food chain, the decisions are apparently not thought through adequately and they fail. Examples are the same idea in Africa several years ago, when for the same reason – land encroachment – mass amounts of elephants were rounded up and slaughtered. This failed as a few years later, the orphaned and shattered family groups of animals started acting aggressively and actually trying to attack other animal species. Our actions actually upset the balance and caused negative behavior.

At our own Pittsburgh Zoo, the decision to have people have an “interactive” experience with the animals instead of just watching them has led to several careless encounters. Who can forget precious Maddox Derkosh? There never should have been a wall that low in that area or in the zoo. Perhaps use windows instead. The elephants never should’ve been permitted to walk loose through the zoo even with caretakers (whose going to control an elephant?), which eventually led to one caretaker’s death. There’s a better way, including birth control.

Putting a gun in someone’s hand in a “civilized” affluent borough just doesn’t make sense. Silencers, of course, will be used so no ordinance will be broken nor will the slaughter disturb the people. When this method is used, do you really think that this persuades the deer in any way to go a different territory or breed less? That’s naïve. While I get that hunters are sportsman, I don’t know why we always have to put wildlife management in their hands? Isn’t that why we call that field wildlife management? These things should be thought through all the way and not just pick the fastest or cheapest method to control these deer.

In conclusion, when considering the deer problem in Mt. Lebanon, if deer are disturbing the lovely, affluent landscape of Mt. Lebanon, perhaps the citizen’s money should be better spent on a birth control method that would be both civilized and long term.

Kathy Bianco

Bethel Park