In follow up to the presentation on Feb. 16 regarding the alleged overpopulation of deer in McCandless Township, we write not with questions but rather a statement as to our feelings.

By the numbers presented that evening, there were 868 responses to the Town Crier about deer issues. Of those, 81% said that there is a problem. Looking at township numbers, there are 28,311 residents within McCandless. Applying the numbers from the meeting, 2.48% of residents feel that we have a problem – hardly numbers that would warrant a community-wide culling program.

We have lived on Reichold Road since 1968. We have never had an issue with any of the wildlife in the area. One of the reasons to move to McCandless is to enjoy the outdoors, which includes the wildlife. Over the past 50 years, we have been visited by deer, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, a variety of birds, crows, hawks, and, hard to believe, even ducks and a beaver. We have enjoyed them all and look forward to their visits.

As far as landscaping goes, the ongoing damage to our property has not been from wildlife but rather from Penn Power, who most recently destroyed our frontage on Reichold Road in their most aggressive tree trimming to date. That damage will result in many thousands of dollars that we must lay out to basically relandscape our property. Not to decorate with flowers and shrubs, but rather to fix the eyesore they created.

If residents are to be limited as what they can toss out to feed wildlife, then residents should be limited as to what they can plant, avoiding things that are known to attract deer. By the way, deer enjoy acorns. We live in hardwoods and are ankle-deep in acorns in the fall. Are we to cut down our oaks? We toss out bread to feed our birds and crows. If a deer arrives later to finish the scraps, so be it.

One presenter suggested taller bird feeders. I don’t think so.

As for car collisions, if drivers paid attention to the driving – not texting – and obeyed the posted speed limits, many of the mentioned collisions could be avoided. Very few on Reichold Road obey the 35 mph posted limit. Traffic has grown exponentially on our road as the Baierl and Wright Nissan automotive groups now use Reichold Road for all of their service test drives. In addition, with the opening of the new GetGo, volume has grown overnight. We fought that GetGo until the last meeting. Their legal team put on a great presentation as to the Route 19 traffic impact, but when asked to see the Reichold Road study, well there was not one done.

Finally, yes deer cross our roads, but so do turkeys. I have seen accidents with a turkey stuck in a windshield of a car. Is a turkey culling event next?

The three presenters’ tone was that a program “will” be approved and in place by fall, Zeb in particular. They are merely trying to justify their position. Our acreage has always been posted “No Trespassing and No Hunting” and it will continue. A township-approved culling event is basically giving a group of hunters a license to shoot fish in a barrel.

So much for the State Animal. We find it odd that the deer have figured out how to live with humans and yet the humans have not figured out how to live with deer.

Scott & Beverly Kerr

McCandless

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