[BCNnet] deer contraception info

[bobolnk@ix.netcom.com]

I did a little poking around with a Google search since I was interested in Robbie's question.  Everything I saw makes it look like this technology is still in it's infancy.  I found this deep in a site that is trying to promote PZP, a commonly used immunocontraceptive: 
How fast can one expect to see a reduction in herd size?
There is no simple answer to this question. The time required will depend on the variables such as rates of reproduction, mortality, immigration and emigration, disease, weather, quality of the habitat, etc. The deer herd on Fire Island, New York has been reduced by 30% over a seven year period. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, there has been a 20% reduction in deer after 3-4 years of PZP immunocontraception.

If this is the best that these can do, then they just won't work fast enough to make a difference our woods, in which deer population is often many hundreds of percent bigger than carrying capacity. 

Judy Pollock
bobolnk@ix.netcom.com