Better ways to lower deer population

Regarding the letters in "Ways to manage deer population" [Oct. 26], here’s the deer narration. They are native to Long Island. Their land was stolen by humans and filled with large structures, wide roads, bricks and cement, replacing their food. With compassion, the choice should not be hunting and, for pleasure, creating their slow death with prolonged suffering. Ticks can never be eradicated; rodents are carriers, too. I say that violence on animals is a violence on ourselves. In the words of Pythagoras, "As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." Let us fence off the woods. Wasting food should be curbed instead of seeking deer meat. Contraception methods work for all species. Newsletters from the Animal Welfare Institute in 2017 and Humane Society in 2018 have quoted the rates and success of the humane approaches in reducing the deer population. The human brain’s ability is immeasurable. Secrets of health and happiness lie in acts of compassion with animals.

Sharada Jayagopal,

East Williston

Reevaluate the value of wildlife

Whether the subject is hunting deer or euthanizing geese on Long Island, it is disheartening to read what little value some residents place on wildlife. These citizens and some in government also seem to believe that people own wild animals and therefore have the right to determine their fate. But we have no such right, and no one owns another sentient being. Likewise, nature generally does best when humans do not interfere. As for the arguments that deer spread disease and geese befoul the environment, all other species combined are not as destructive as humans. After taking over virtually the entire planet, people wrongly complain when a wild animal has the nerve to claim just a portion for him or herself.

Meryl Bissick,

Bayside