Posted on 07/28/2007 5:04:07 PM PDT by Sybeck1
Whispers started with the first few gunshots.
Neighborhood rumors had it that a cotton farmer who leases land from the Chickasaw Basin Authority near the Wolf River was shooting deer on the property.
So when residents discovered nearly 40 of the animals had been killed and left to rot in the surrounding woods, they reacted with horror.
"I don't like to see (deer) slaughtered, and that's what happened down there in these cotton fields," said Brenda Flanagan, a nearby resident. "To me it's inhumane. ... What's gone is gone, and I would hate to see that ever happen again."
Angry neighbors also cited safety concerns.
"Our first concern was the brutality of killing those animals," said Arthur Wolff, who owns property on Bethany Road, a shady street that dead ends into the sprawling cotton farm. "Then there was the safety issue of shooting deer so close to people's homes."
Wolff, along with other angry residents, called officials from the Chickasaw Basin Authority (CBA), a state agency dealing with flood-control and drainage in a three-county area. The CBA owns a 600-acre patch of land near Collierville's annexation reserve in unincorporated Shelby County.
It turns out the farmer had been given permission by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to kill deer that were destroying his crops.
But as a result of the community's response, CBA's chairman, Charles Perkins, said they became aware of the safety issues and pulled the permit until further notice.
"We just thought it was a health concern and a safety concern because of the populated area being so close in proximity," Perkins said. "We put a stop to it."
Farmer David Ciarloni, who leases the 200 acres, is not happy about the decision, but he's going to wait to see what can be negotiated with the CBA.
He said the deer population has escalated in recent years, wreaking havoc on his cotton crop.
"It's not going to stop, and it will make this farm impossible to farm in the future," he said.
Although Ciarloni won't know the extent of damage until harvest time, he's estimated 30 percent to 50 percent crop damage. "It's an astronomical increase from last year."
Ciarloni grew frustrated with the deer problem a few months ago and contacted his landlord, the CBA, for a permit to kill the deer.
Ted Fox, the county's public works director who doubles as the CBA's executive director, said he sent a county employee out to examine the damage.
The employee corroborated Ciarloni's story -- that deer had eaten away at about 30 percent of the crop. Fox contacted the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which issues hunting permits.
Gary Cook, TWRA's regional manager in West Tennessee, said state legislation allows farmers to receive hunting permits if they can prove significant crop loss. Called a "depredation permit," this license allows farmers to kill wildlife such as birds or deer that are causing damage to public or private property.
"It happens all over Tennessee on a regular basis," Cook said. "This is not something rare or unusual."
Each year, TWRA issues anywhere from about three to 10 permits to landowners in Shelby County. Last year, it issued 11.
A permit was issued to the CBA after TWRA officers sent to Ciarloni's farm noted significant crop loss and 81 deer.
Ronnie Shannon of TWRA said that contrary to popular belief, deer have been known to eat newer strains of cotton, called "Roundup Ready" cotton that has a salty taste. And because there's limited hunting in the county, the deer population has grown in recent years.
TWRA officials relayed this information to the CBA board, which voted unanimously to thin the herd during a two-week period.
Perkins, CBA's chairman, said the TWRA warden showed up to the meeting in uniform and with his rifle, leading him to assume that the officer -- not Ciarloni -- would be handling the problem.
"We thought the TWRA was going to handle the eradication," Perkins said. "We thought they were going to be onsite to supervise or do it themselves."
He was surprised to discover Ciarloni had taken a shotgun and killed the animals himself.
Perkins also discovered their bodies had been dragged off the cotton fields and into nearby wooded areas to rot.
"That concerned us because of the scavengers, the possibility of the coyotes moving into that area, the buzzards and the smell," Perkins said. "It was a general health concern."
Fox called Ciarloni and put a hold on the permit. The CBA held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue.
During that session, the CBA heard testimony from Wolff and other concerned residents, who complained of safety and health risks for the surrounding residents.
Perkins said the license will be pulled until further notice, but something will have to be done eventually to deal with the deer population.
And of the system chosen to hunt the deer, he said residents probably won't be happy about it.
"I personally am leaning toward a limited hunting situation although I suspect neighbors won't like that," he said. "This is a serious problem in Shelby County."
-- Alex Doniach: 529-5231
Copyright 2007, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
LOL! Charleton Heston was badgered by his “anti-gun” film industry associates for guns when the LA riots erupted. There you go.
Bottom Line: It’s always better to have one than be caught needing one.
“We had a good friend killed when a deer went through his windshield. We were on the Trace several years ago and a deer jumped the car which was in front of us. I had never seen a deer jump like that.”
Sorry to hear about your friend. I was landing at the Dickson Cty, Tn. airport one night and had just touched down when four deer ran right out onto the runway. I managed to swerve around them which is kind of hard to do in a Cessna. I was shaking like a leaf when I shut down. Tennessee is just covered up with deer.
If he’s going to let the deer rot, they should make him bury them. That will slow him down.
He did, it was high velocity lead.
Try monofilament fishing line. Unless the deer are really running, they hate feeling it on their legs and won’t try to break through it.
I replace my line in my fishing poles twice a season, and have about 900 yards of 60lb test line to put to use, lemme know if they want a box of knotted up used saltwater fishing line.
The libs will be whining if you shoot the predators. Remember the big cats (IIRC Cougars) in California that took out joggers and bicyclists?
How long has it been since you moved out of the city? If a deer ate half of your paycheck, I'm sure you'd be pissed. What he did was completely legal, too.
I hate when ignorant city people try to make rules for those who feed and clothe the rest of the world.
I ain't cleaning 40.
Why not a bow season?
Dry cleaners?
It’s a sahme the farmer didn’t make provision to distribute the meat instead of letting it rot, thus creating a possible health issue.
Deer are vermin in a pretty package.
There is nothing you can spray on a crop that will provide significant protection over the course of a growing season.
Areas that never had significant deer populations are over run now. And with the deer comes ticks and tick-borne illness.
I’m 1000 miles from Pennsylvania and we are now seeing Lyme’s disease locally. There are also confirmed cases of Tulermia in our area most likely transmitted by tick bites.
We also have confirmed cougar sightings in our area, they most likely came here hunting the deer. I have real concern for my children, pets and livestock.
City folk see a deer and say ooooooh.
I see deer making suicidal dashes in front of my car and say arrrrrrrrgh.
True, but he should of taken it and had it butchered and given to the food bank or the Memphis Union Mission to feed the homeless. It was a waste of perfectly edible food. It becomes no different than when the hide hunters left the buffalo on the plains after they skinned them.
It is totally legal, but I disagree with the justified part. I aways figured that a farmer that couldn't afford to feed a few deer was just about to broke to be in business. Maybe he should sell and let someone with a little more financing take over.
The average deer eats 8 lbs of forage per 100lbs of body weight per day.
Over the course of a season (6 mos), them 40 deer would eat about 57,600 lbs of crop.
That more than “a few”
"Yeah, two bucks."
*slap*
I’d be happy to ship you about thirty of them that cross my drive every morning and evening.
Deer are like rabbits, they exist to provide meat for the next rung up the food chain. If that predator is not there, they breed until starvation culls the herd.
Much more humane to shoot a few than to wait until thousands starve.
It’s rather unfair to call someone you do not know a creep or thug. He’s probably a typical farmer, fighting to stay afloat, bankers calling about loans, bad weather and on top of it all deer eating what little profit he may make that year. Those beautiful deer may mean his kids don’t get new clothes for the coming school year, or even worse, losing every thing he owns.
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