Protesters call Blue Hills deer hunts a ‘massacre’
Deer are being hunted for the first time in the Blue Hills Reservation since 1893.
Deer hunting has been banned in the Blue Hills Reservation since 1893.
But that changed Monday, amid protests.
State officials are allowing four daylong hunts on the conservation land in an effort to curb an exploding deer population that puts the public at risk of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, reports The Boston Globe.
According to a 2013 study, there are 85 deer per square mile in the Blue Hills — a healthy number per square mile is 7 to 14, reports the Globe. About 50 protesters gathered on Route 138 Sunday, according to the Globe, to oppose the hunt, calling it a “slaughter’’ and a “massacre.’’
“We’re losing our soul,’’ Peter Morrissey, 73, of Braintree, told the Globe. “We’re not against hunting. We’re not against hunters. We’re against hunting in Blue Hill.’’
The hunt will take place on 3,000 of the reservation’s 7,000 acres.
“This is not a trophy hunt, and these folks are not going in there for sport,’’ Matthew Sisk, deputy commissioner of the state conservation department, told the Globe. “They’re going in to do a job.’’
Hunts will also take place on Dec. 1, 7, and 8.
Read the full story in the Globe.
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