Some of you may remember the fascinating article that appeared in the July/August edition of Yankee Magazine in 2007.  If you didn’t catch it, go to this address: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/index.php to order a back issue.

The article was written by Edie Clarke, and it touched on many aspects of our troubles (the infected), the politics, the basics…but what floored me was the study accomplished by Dr. Peter Rand (Maine Medical Center Research Institute) of manipulating the biosphere of an entire island off the coast of Maine called “Monhegan Island”.  For thirteen years, Dr. Rand and his team of research associates gathered information which eventually brought them some amazing conclusions.

Initially Monhegan Island was chosen because it could be controlled (except for birds), and the population of deer and people were contained in a convenient location just ten miles away (although the winter trips were certainly inconvenient due to the cold.)  Dr. Rand tested all 75 permanent residents on the island  and found 13% of the residents tested positive for Lyme.  It is safe to say that given the testing inaccuracies it is probable that the percentage of infected residents was much higher, but they all cooperated due to fear that the disease would scare away the tourists.

Over the course of Dr. Rand’s research, and after long heated debate, more than 100 deer were eliminated (which accounted for about 100% of the deer population.)

By the end of the study, every resident tested negative for Lyme, and in 2007 when the article was written Lyme was virtually eliminated from the island creating a feasible plan for Lyme containment everywhere.

At Mumford Cove in Connecticut, a separate attempt to control deer numbers using contraceptives for 3 years failed to prevent a rising deer population.

After further debate it was decided to eliminate as many of the deer as possible.  In 2000 the deer numbers were reduced by hunters down to 10.4 deer per sq mile and have been held at that level since then. There are now only 2 to 3 Lyme cases a year in this community compared to 30 new cases a year prior to deer reduction. The deer are now maintained at a steady 10 or so per square mile very easily by two pairs of hunters once a year. There are now virtually no ticks to be found in this community.

However, this hiatus will only last as long as the leaders of the community are vigilant.  Deer cover hundreds of miles in their lifetime, and even 2 to 3 cases of Lyme disease per year is a vast improvement, it is unacceptable for those unlucky souls.

Even the most avid deer lover (like myself) would be willing to eliminate deer if I thought it would save our children and grandchildren from this horrible disease.  As we’ve heard in the past (and thought ourselves) “Lyme is a disease that doesn’t kill you, but you wish it would.”  But of course now we know it DOES kill you, we just don’t know quite yet in how many ways.  It is safe to assume that if Lyme infects every organ, that there are many ways Lyme can kill its human host.

The undeniable truth is that now the beautiful outdoors is a dangerous place.  Is the survival of deer more important than our own?  Please leave your comments on what you think of this radical deer-eradication plan.