MORE ON THE 2014 TEATOWN DEER CULL

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A FEBRUARY 2014 GAZETTE LETTER FROM LINDA CONTE, RE-PRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION. An index of related articles at Everything Croton, will appear at the end. As with all such postings, this is closed to ALL comments, pro or con.

To the editor:

I have been robbed - robbed of my feeling and experience of the Teatown area as a peaceful, beautiful, quiet place where nature and people lived together in peace.  A location eagerly sought, containing old stone walls, huge trees and lots of good memories - the whole Teatown area has been robbed.

One week ago, in the late afternoon, near the red house on the corner of Spring Valley and Blinn Roads, a lone deer, beautiful between the trees, posed in the woods.

On the way down Blinn Road toward Ossining, at about 6 p.m. that night, we were reminded again of how precious and poignant the area is, when we followed, slowly and at a distance, three young deer, beautiful, majestic and vulnerable, down the road, and watched how difficult it was for them to find a place to get off the road, a place where they could navigate the deep snow and icy conditions, to get into the woods, supposedly to safety.  

Shortly after we arrived home at about 9 p.m. that night everything changed.

On that night, thanks to Teatown "Nature Preserve", there was secrecy, trucks plowing through Teatown trails, and people in camouflage uniforms and carrying rifles.  Deer, baited during this difficult time to find food, wandering into familiar land which recently had boasted "deer snacks", pristine areas familiar to the deer as resting places, suddenly turned into deer-killing fields.

The police were called.

Later, a Teatown Lake Reservation administrator was out in the road taking pictures of the cars passing in the street and threatening local neighbors, Teatown members and supporters.

We don't know how many deer lost their life that night. (The shooters wouldn't talk.)   We don't know how many young deer, lost and orphaned in the last week, were suddenly alone during the recent monumental storm and difficult weather.

We don't know how much blood and gore was being covered by the pure white recent snowfalls.

But we will NEVER FORGET!  

Linda Conte

INDEX:
A LETTER FROM ANNE MARIE MARX  http://www.everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-letter-on-teatown-deer-cull-anne.html