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This is the first of a two-part series about the growing wildlife population in Fairfield County, and the intrusion of wildlife in your neighborhood.
FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. A Norwalk woman wakes up to find a deer swimming in her pool.
A Wilton man returns home from shopping to spot a bobcat by the side door of his house and grabs an image of the wild animal on his camera before it slowly makes its way down the street.
A 4-year-old Greenwich boy accompanying his mother to the mailbox is bitten by a raccoon.
A mountain lion, later traced to South Dakota, is killed by a motorist on the Merritt Parkway within days of repeated sightings in Greenwich.
Those are just some examples within the past year of the bold intrusion of wildlife into suburban and urban areas throughout the state, particularly Fairfield County.
The white-tailed deer population has exploded during the past two decades, and it is common to see herds of up to 30 or 40 deer gracefully roaming on town roads, or hundreds of turkeys strutting across county streets.
But experts say these incidents are more the result of human intrusion, such as condominium complexes, subdivision development and private homes built in forests and beach areas that were once solely natural wildlife habitats.
When I started out 30 years ago, seeing a deer was something special, something that would make you stop to marvel at the animals grace and beauty. Now its becoming almost as common as seeing a dog or cat, said Mark Clavette, supervising wildlife biologist for the states Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Clavette said deer and an array of wild animals, including coyotes, foxes, raccoons, turkeys, owls, bats and other species that once rarely ventured into sight, now routinely show up at peoples homes. Wherever there is food and shelter, wild animals will come, and some have adapted extremely well to the human population, said Clavette.
He said with the exception of rabid raccoons, skunks and bats, the animals are not generally a threat to humans, although some, such as coyotes, can pose a major threat to pets.
Experts estimate there are between 50 to 100 deer per square mile compared to the desired 12 to 25, with the problem becoming unmanageable in a state that has an estimated 18,000 deer-related road accidents a year and nearly $30 million in property losses as a result. Deer-related accidents also cause several deaths a year in the state, and numerous injuries.
The deer population has grown to an estimated 125,000, compared to less than 20,000 during the early 1980s, according to Howard Kilpatrick, project leader for deer programs in the state DEEP.
Kilpatrick said hunting regulations both for firearms and bows have been greatly loosened in recent years to help control deer and other wildlife populations.
For the last 15 years we have liberalized hunting and expanded the hunting seasons to help control the massive increase of wildlife species that venture into and adapt so well to residential communities, Kilpatrick said. Fairfield County has a lot of development, and pockets of habitat mixed in, so it is a particularly suitable place for deer and other wildlife to move in and occupy communities along with people.
He said while there was once a legal limit on the number of deer an individual could hunt at one time just one a season people can now hunt as many as they want if they participate in the states replacement tag program, which requires that the animal be brought to one of several state checking stations for inspection. One of the checking stations is at Eastons Greiser Store, at the junction of Route 136 and Center Road.
According to the DEEP booklet Managing Urban Deer in Connecticut: A Guide for Residents and Communities," there have been growing conflicts between deer and people, forcing many towns to establish deer management programs and allow expanded hunting.
Overabundant deer populations in residential areas are associated with a high rate of deer-vehicle accidents, Lyme disease and other tic related illnesses, and have resulted in significant damage to natural plants and to property, the booklet states.
Fred Frillici, president of the Fairfield County League of Sportsmens Clubs, Inc. , which includes about a half dozen clubs representing 1,500 sportsmen, said he knows all about Lyme disease having contracted the illness last year after hunting for more than 75 years.
Having almost succumbed to Lyme disease last year, I now believe more than ever that we have to control the deer population, and hunting is the best way to do it, said the 83-year-old Frillici, of Fairfield. The fact is that all kinds of wildlife now come out of the woods and into our neighborhoods.
Animal advocates argue that hunting is not humane and doesnt solve the overabundance of wild animals.
If hunting works so well, why are we seeing a rising deer population and complaints of wildlife sightings in the suburbs? asked Laura Simon, field director of the Urban Wildlife program for the Humane Society of the United States, in Woodbridge.
Hunting hasnt worked, Simon said. The reason were seeing so much wildlife is because our suburban landscape is a virtual buffet for wild animals. Were attracting deer and wildlife to our suburbs, while we continue to destroy their natural habitat.
Part 2 will appear on Main Street Connect websites Monday.
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