Deer Country: Deer Cull Controversy

Want a good discussion topic to upset your neighbors?  Tired of politics or religion?  Try the subject of culling neighborhood deer by shooting them.

Today’s Washington Post has an eye-grabbing photo of a stunning white-tail buck jumping a fence over this headline: “Residents divided over deer cull: The USDA plans to thin herd in bayside Maryland community,” by Avis Thomas-Lester.

Residents in Bay Ridge, Maryland, near Annapolis, are confronting “roving deer that devour vegetation and wreak havoc” in their local woods and their civic association’s decision to cull the herd, which is approximately twice the size the local forest can support.

You should read the article because it outlines the basic arguments the two sides of the “kill/don’t kill” controversy.

To read Thomas-Lester’s article, or just to sneak a peek at the fantastic photograph of the buck jumping the fence, CLICK HERE.

Glimmer of Hope: Bats and the Lethal White-Nose Syndrome

A lethal disease is ravaging bat colonies from eastern Canada and New England to North Carolina.  The disease, white-nose syndrome, is caused by a fungus that causes holes to form in the membranes that enable bats to fly.  Surveys indicate that in some areas the population of little brown bats has declined 91% and that of northern bats by 98%.

The economic implications for agriculture can be dramatic because a colony of 150 bats eats about 1.3 million insects each year, according to one study.  Fewer bats, of course, mean more insects and more alternative means of insect control, which generally means more pesticides.  One estimate values bats at more than $3 billion a year.

There is a glimmer of hope, however.  Scientists see some evidence that the disease may not be as lethal in warmer climates.  Note the operative word: perhaps.

If you have any interest in bats and their relationship to the environment, or just enjoy watching a little brown bat swooping over your garden in search of insects, you’ll want to read “On the trail of a bat scourge” by Darryl Fears in today’s Washington Post.  CLICK HERE.

What Cost Cleaner Water?

Is it time to re-imagine your concept of “lawn”? Are you willing to replace traditional “grass” with a rain barrel and a rain garden and your driveway with porous pavement? Are you ready for a visit from your neighborhood “fertilizer cop”?

Man your battle stations! Read the pros and cons in “To save Chesapeake, turf may face tough love,” by David A. Fahrenthold, in today’s Washington Post.

The save-the-bay principles mentioned in the article apply elsewhere, of course, even to streams and rivers in your neighborhood if you live outside the Chesapeake watershed.

To go the Post article, CLICK HERE.