I am writing in response to Sidney Tynan's letter last week, "What's to be done about all the deer?" and to others who have complained about the explosion of the deer breeding populations and the devastation of their gardens, plants, and crops. I am going to point out the obvious, WE did this to them. The deer, like the Native Americans, were here before you. But like with everything, once we find the perfect spot of land to call our own, we proceed to cut down the forest and tear up the land to build a sprawling homestead complete with bedroom, living room and kitchen, without ever giving a thought to the wildlife that called what you just tore up and cut down THEIR living room, bedroom and eatery.  

Then comes spring. The gardens are put in, trees and shrubs get planted, and the lawn is seeded.  If Americans cared half as much about our border as they do about the trespasses of deer in their gardens, crops, and property, we'd all be a heck of a lot better off. So, you say the deer "eat your newly planted little trees, or anything else of yours that they find tasty..." Why?  Because you tore up where they ate prior to your moving in and destroying what was THEIRS.

And finally, yes, deer breed, but the population explosion is NOT from breeding, it is from the continuous destruction of their habitat (I used to see deer in Tiverton almost every day during my morning walks. Now I consider myself lucky if I see one or two deer in a month). Just look around. Tiverton boasts a gigantic hunk of land completely ruined on Fish Road in an effort to build affordable housing (affordable housing according to whom?); a huge swatch of land was cleared on Eagleville Road so that East Coast Construction could have a second location; the land beside Family Ties on Main Road has been cleared for who-knows-what; and if the mega gas station gets the OK from the befuddled town then we'll have another mass-acreage clearing on an already too busy Main/Souza Road — this just names a few in Tiverton, never mind what I've seen in Westport and Little Compton. So, with the destruction of their natural habitat the deer have no choice but to move on into other areas that already have a deer population. All this land/forest clearing means deer, along with owls, coyote, fox, skunk, mink, opossum, and all other wildlife are being squeezed out and forced to find other lodging and eateries, and since there is not enough of what's left to feed all, your precious gardens and crops are at stake. 

Louise Dina

Tiverton