Teatown's Secret

Letter to the Editor:

Last weekend illustrated vividly some of the incredible juxtapositions of life in our community. 

People from near and far traveled to Croton Point Park and nearby locations to attend Teatown’s 10th Annual Hudson River EagleFest to celebrate the re-emergence of bald eagles in the Hudson Valley.  At the same time, the sponsor of that event, Teatown Lake Reservation, a 875-acre nature preserve in the towns of Yorktown and Cortlandt, was completing a three-week deer baiting program, and, the night before Eaglefest, began a program of hiring sharpshooters to kill 75 white tail deer.  Since the deer baiting/killing program had never been made public, visitors to Eaglefest were shocked and dismayed to learn of it there because of a rally there by animal lovers.

In a recent article in Psychology Today, Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.,  former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, writes about the problem and how it is being handled in a nearby village in the Hudson Valley, Hastings on Hudson:”

“In a recent essay in the New York Times called, "A Kinder, Gentler Way to Thin the Deer Herd" by Lisa Foderaro, Hastings-on Hudson's (New York) Mayor Peter Swiderski "has settled on a less violent approach: birth control.

“Dr. Alan Rutberg, the director of Tuft's center, calls the idea "brilliant." He has successfully used immunocontraception in self-contained areas such as Fire Island and elsewhere resulting in a 50% decrease in deer numbers over five years.

“…Peaceful coexistence needs to be the way in which we live with urban neighbors and birth control is a wonderful alternative to killing these magnificent animals.”

Teatown’s refusal to seek less violent alternatives, the lack of public information or opportunity for input casts a big shadow over their mission and reputation going forward;  more than 1300 people have signed a petition to have the bait/kill  program stopped. ( http://chn.ge/1dzcmrV)

Linda Conte

Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Letter to the Editor:

Last weekend illustrated vividly some of the incredible juxtapositions of life in our community. 

People from near and far traveled to Croton Point Park and nearby locations to attend Teatown’s 10th Annual Hudson River EagleFest to celebrate the re-emergence of bald eagles in the Hudson Valley.  At the same time, the sponsor of that event, Teatown Lake Reservation, a 875-acre nature preserve in the towns of Yorktown and Cortlandt, was completing a three-week deer baiting program, and, the night before Eaglefest, began a program of hiring sharpshooters to kill 75 white tail deer.  Since the deer baiting/killing program had never been made public, visitors to Eaglefest were shocked and dismayed to learn of it there because of a rally there by animal lovers.

In a recent article in Psychology Today, Marc Bekoff, Ph.D.,  former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, writes about the problem and how it is being handled in a nearby village in the Hudson Valley, Hastings on Hudson:”

“In a recent essay in the New York Times called, "A Kinder, Gentler Way to Thin the Deer Herd" by Lisa Foderaro, Hastings-on Hudson's (New York) Mayor Peter Swiderski "has settled on a less violent approach: birth control.

“Dr. Alan Rutberg, the director of Tuft's center, calls the idea "brilliant." He has successfully used immunocontraception in self-contained areas such as Fire Island and elsewhere resulting in a 50% decrease in deer numbers over five years.

“…Peaceful coexistence needs to be the way in which we live with urban neighbors and birth control is a wonderful alternative to killing these magnificent animals.”

Teatown’s refusal to seek less violent alternatives, the lack of public information or opportunity for input casts a big shadow over their mission and reputation going forward;  more than 1300 people have signed a petition to have the bait/kill  program stopped. ( http://chn.ge/1dzcmrV)

Anne Marie Marx

Croton-on-Hudson, NY