Efforts to reduce deer population on Long Island fall short

SOUTHOLD, N.Y. (WABC) -- An attempt to reduce the deer population on Long Island missed the mark.

Advocates hoped to thin out the herd in Suffolk County in order to prevent health problems and help the ecosystem.

Now residents are left to figure out what they can do.

Mimi Ellis loves to have her grandchildren come visit her in Southold and play in the woods.

But it always makes her a little nervous.

"We do a very careful tick search every evening and a very careful bath because I'm very terribly afraid they'll get tick borne diseases and that it will haunt them," said Ellis.

That was one of the reasons Southold parterned with the USDA and others to bring in federal sharpshooters this past winter to thin out the deer population.

They expected thousands of deer to be killed. They only got about 200.

"We had an unexpectedly tough winter, it changed how deer moved. We were limited in what properties we could work. We only did this for 6 weeks," said Martin Lowney of the USDA.

They also faced legal blocks from hunters and conservationists. Deer are responsible for destroying millions of dollars worth of crops annually on the East End and for upsetting the entire ecosytem.

But nothing has people more upset than the prevalence of people with tick borne illnesses.

Even though the State Department of Health tells us that reported cases of lyme were down last year here in Suffolk County, people aren't risking it.

"I cannot allow my grandchildren to come to visit because I won't have them going through life like that," said Peconic resident Susan Switzer.

"I used to allow my child to play in the garden and now I wouldn't actually be able to do that," said East End resident Nancy Muller.

Legislators in Albany are expected to discuss a bill that would expand the hunting season here from Dec 31st to March 31st and would also add in weekends.

They're hoping that may be a way to deal with what many people say is an epidemic.