Information Session On Deer Population Given In Sherborn

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife deer biologist Sonja Christensen gave a presentation on the white tailed deer population and their relationship with ticks in Sherborn on Thursday.

She explained that eastern Massachusetts has one of the largest populations for deer in the state.

“We have a lot of deer in eastern Massachusetts. More than we’d like,” Christensen said. Last year, she added, 1,800 deer were harvested, which was the most in the state.

Drew Colby, a bow hunter from Wellesley, said he pulled three deer out of Dover last year and at the Massachusetts Check-In station, where he is legally bound to bring his deer, they pulled at least 200 ticks off the deer.

Christensen said the state licensed check stations give her department research information on ticks and deer population each year.  

Even though the eastern part of the state is the most settled, “Deer are great at utilizing the human environments,” she said.

Regardless of the more densely populated areas, she said, “There is plenty of habitat out there for them.”

 To keep deer out of your property, she recommends an eight foot wire mesh fence, a dog to annoy the deer, or backyard lighting. She reaffirmed that it is illegal to hire “deer control” outside of hunting season.

Sherborn Open Space Committee member Judy Cohn asked how anyone could regulate hunters while they’re in the woods wandering from property to property.

Christensen said that it would be illegal to do so and that many towns have adopted a rigorous licensing program to allow them to hunt in their town.

She added that hunters who do obey the law regulate each other and inform authorities when they see someone inconsiderate of the boundaries.

Daniel Wolff of Mass. Deer Service, a local hunting organization, said last year Dover had 32 hunters and 19 deer harvested in their first year of hunting.

Michael Lesser of the Sherborn Conservation Commission asked if that was a reasonable yield. Wolff answered that it was considering that the hunters were new to the land. Christensen said no matter what it would lower the birth rate in years to come.

Christensen noted that an over-abundance of deer would affect the health of the town forests. The deer eat saplings and shrubbery so quickly that they do not have a chance to replace the older trees.