Despite strong objections from animal advocates, county officials are planning to continue managed deer hunts in a half-dozen undeveloped parks this fall, based on the results of a new public opinion survey.
The 10-minute telephone survey of random respondents was conducted in April, and the results were released this week.
"We wanted to find out in general what attitudes were," said Gary J. Arthur, director of the county Department of Recreation and Parks.
If the survey had revealed a swing to overwhelming public opposition to hunting, the county would have revisited the plans, he said.
County officials say the hunts are needed to reduce an excessive deer population that they say has led indirectly to more transmission of Lyme disease, damage to vegetation and ecosystems in parks, and added to the danger of collisions for motorists.
But members of Animal Advocates of Howard County found those arguments unconvincing, countering that other animals carry deer ticks, residents can use fencing and repellent to protect plants, and driving more cautiously and using roadside reflectors would reduce collisions.
"It was a biased panel and a waste of taxpayers' money," said Jennifer C. Grill, the organization's representative on the committee that helped frame the survey's questions. She withdrew from the group in protest.
The survey of 800 residents found that 81 percent support continuing managed deer hunts if nonlethal control methods are ineffective. At the same time, 70 percent support using nonlethal controls if they work. About 58 percent said there are too many deer in the county.
Asked their opinion on what methods work, 42 percent said managed hunts are "very effective," and 40 percent said hunts are "somewhat effective." That compares with 26 percent who said that contraceptives or capturing and moving deer are very effective and 52 percent who said those methods are somewhat effective.
The $22,333 survey was organized by Donald F. Norris, chairman of public policy at the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In a report accompanying the results, Norris wrote that "current scientific evidence shows that contraception does not work," and that capture and transfer is also "not a viable option."
About half the respondents said they had either been involved in a collision with a deer or have a relative or friend who had been in the past five years. More than half said they had bushes or crops damaged by deer.
