New Fairfax County Archery Program

Like many Eastern suburbs, Virginia’s Fairfax County has way too many whitetail deer munching on backyard greenery and blundering in front of moving minivans. The county’s parks department has a chosen technology to control the antlered population boom: bows and arrows. Registered bow hunters climb into tree stand blinds and shoot down at the critters, so there’s little chance of stray shots perforating the neighbors.

Yum, venison steaks!

More:

“Deer control hunt begins in Fairfax County,” Madeleine Simon, WTOP News

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‘Tis the Season … to Gun Down Deer in Rock Creek Park

The National Park Service resumed its “Deer Reduction Program” last night, deploying sharpshooters in Rock Creek Park to shoot whitetail deer in the middle of the Nation’s capital. The seasonal slaughter will continue every night until March 15th, and recommence next winter. Last winter’s cull cut deer density in half, from 80 to 40 deer per square mile. The Park Service is shooting for a goal of 15 to 20 deer per square mile.

Venison harvested by the program is donated to food programs for the homeless.

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Image (“Rock Creek Deer Hunt, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Happy New Year, Bambi

2014 sees the resumption of the white tailed deer hunt in DC’s Rock Creek Park. National Park Service sharpshooters are blasting the graceful critters again as part of a 15-year deer management plan. When NPS started the cull in 2012 there were 320 deer in the urban park, 77 deer per square mile. The target density NPS is shooting for: 15 to 20 deer per square mile. To provide a partially happy ending to this tale, venison harvested by the program is donated to programs for the homeless.

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Image (“Rock Creek Deer Hunt, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Rock Creek Park: 20 Deer Down, 130 to Go.

Despite protests by concerned DC citizens, sharpshooters have bagged 20 deer in Rock Creek Park, which runs though the middle of the Nation’s Capital. The National Park Service is reducing whitetail over-population in the urban outdoors, and hopes to harvest a total of 150 critters by the end of a 3-year deer-reduction period. Resulting venison is donated to local food banks and shelters.

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Image (“Rock Creek Deer Hunt, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Bye-Bye Bambi: The Hunt Is On In Rock Creek Park.

In the dead of night, while half the city is out of town for Easter Week, the National Park Service is implementing its ruthless slaughter of helpless, cute, fuzzy deer whitetail reduction plan in Rock Creek Park.

More:

“‘Deer Reduction Operations’ to Begin Tonight in Rock Creek Park,” Martin Austermuhle, DCist

“Sharpshooters to begin killing deer in Rock Creek Park for National Park Service,” AP via Washington Post

“Rock Creek Park Deer Slaughter Starts Tonight,” Will Sommer, Washington City Paper blog.

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Image (“Bye-Bye Bambi, after Atelier de Walt Disney”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Rock Creek Park: The Hunt Is On

Rock Creek Park runs right through the middle of Washington DC, and it has a problem. The skinny ribbon of National Parkland is infested with deer, five times more than the 1,750 acres can support. The deer wander onto Rock Creek Parkway where commuting motorists mince them into Bambi-burgers. They cause international incidents by browsing backyards on Embassy Row and visit the grounds of the Vice President’s residence for wrestling matches with the Secret Service.

The National Park Service issued shoot-to-kill orders, but five DC residents went to court to stop the hunt. A judge just threw out their lawsuit so the hunt is back on. The NPS plans to donate harvested venison to area homeless shelters.

UPDATE:

“Rock Creek Park Deer Killing for Me, Not for Thee,” Will Sommer, Washington CityPaper blog

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Killer Kittycats

Domestic cats kill as many as 3.7 billion birds a year, according to a study led by a Smithsonian biologist. That’s about 15 percent of the bird population. They kill about half as many mice, voles and other small mammals annually. Not everyone is confident about these numbers, however, and it’s unclear how many of these killer cats are actually feral and aren’t anyone’s pets.

Clearly, our sweet house kitties are natural-born hunters, “snakes with fur.”  No need to kill them off, but letting pet pussycats roam outdoors is another matter. There are health reasons to keep cats indoors; now there are ecological ones, too.

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Squirrel Meat, Again?

Washington Post columnist Joihn Kelly brought his week-long examination of squirrels to a logical conclusion by writing about hunting and eating the varmints. Alas, no recipes.

“I’ll have the squirrel pot pie with barbecued squirrel on the side,” John Kelly, Washington Post

Related:

“Squirrel: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!” Mike West’s Squirrel Stuff

“Al rodente: Could squirrel meat come back into vogue? ” Heather Smith, Grist

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Bambi Harvest in Rock Creek Park

In 30 days, trained sharp-shooters will spend their nights in Washington’s Rock Creek Park. They’ll be blasting away at the urban park’s resident white-tailed deer. Rock Creek’s deer population is about 1900, 385 per square mile. The National Park Service hopes to cull half the critters.

More:

“Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for Rock Creek Park,” National Park Service

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Sarah Palin’s Hamburger on the Hoof

Here’s a wild game recipe from former Temp-Governor Sarah Palin: Caribou Hamburger. You know it’s fresh because you start grinding it while the animal is still alive. Here’s how:

Take one free-range, fresh and local Alaska caribou. Instead of downing it with one or two well-placed high-powered rifle shots, shred it with about five rounds. Burger meat the “Caribou Barbie” way. 

Oh, wait. She missed four out of five shots. The feat of arms is featured on her cable TV  show on the Learning Channel. The show really was educational. We learned the truth about Sarah Palin The Mighty Hunter, anyway.

 

Bonus feature: Do You Have What it Takes? Caribou Tracking. Take the quiz!

 Update:  “Sarah Palin succeeded in doing the impossible this week … when she faced her biggest wildlife challenge to date — Kate Gosselin.” More from Kirkland Hamill here.

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