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NEWS RELEASE

November 3, 2008

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Department of Recreation & Parks Announces Additions to 2008-2009 Deer Management Program

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – The Howard County Department of Recreation & Parks has announced its fall/winter schedule for managing deer through sharpshooting. This program will help maintain a stable, balanced white-tailed deer population on county lands where the managed hunt program is not feasible.

The sharpshooting program is different from the managed hunts, which were announced in September. Specially trained and qualified personnel, using highly accurate, noise-suppressed rifles, remove deer at night under a special permit issued by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. All the meat from this operation is donated to charitable organizations in the area. All properties will be closed to the public during the hours of operation, 3 pm to midnight. The sites and schedule for 2008-2009 are as follows:

Alpha Ridge Landfill: November 17 (during the managed hunt in the adjacent park, dawn-11am), December 8; March 9

Blandair Park: February 23; March 3

Worthington Park: December 9; January 27; March 2

Gray Rock Open Space along the Little Patuxent River: January 5; 12; 20; 26

Rockburn Branch Park: January 6; 13; February 2

Timbers at Troy Golf Course: February 3; 9

Hollifield Station/Daniels Mill Overlook Open Space: February 10; 17; 24

Since deer population reduction programs such as the hunts and sharpshooting are not possible in many areas of the county, the Department of Recreation & Parks has developed a Deer Management Reference Manual to help homeowners and gardeners live in harmony with white-tailed deer. The manual, which is available in the reference section of all Howard County library branches, contains information on the use of deer repellents, fencing to protect crops and property, how to avoid deer-auto collisions, and Lyme Disease prevention. There is also information about the county’s deer management program available on the Department’s website at www.howardcountymd.gov/RAP/RAP_HomePage.htm.

The Department of Recreation & Parks and the Howard County Cooperative Extension Service Master Gardeners can also arrange to have experts on the topic speak to homeowner associations, schools or other groups. Other Recreation & Parks’ deer management programs include an effort to reduce ticks on deer through the use of “Four-Poster” devices which deliver an approved pesticide to deer attracted to a feeder baited with corn. Developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the devices have been shown to reduce tick populations by 90% or more.

For more information on the deer management program, call the Department of Recreation & Parks at 410-313-1675.