The way many people see it, Maryland’s Natural Resources Police (NRP) never will be recognized for having the best manners or diplomatic skills. “Heavy-handed” is the term heard most often in response to the NRP recently euthanizing a number of privately owned fallow deer in Anne Arundel County.
Says Charles “Chuck” Vernon, a truck driver who had three fenced-in fallow deer on his 27-acre property in Severn: “My rights have been taken away.”
It all started when the Natural Resources cops showed up last month and without so much as a discussion or a chance to explain anything confiscated his three “pet” deer, euthanized them and later removed the animals’ brains to see if the deer had chronic wasting disease (CWD).
The disease is akin to Mad Cow Disease. It is highly contagious and can devastate wild whitetailed deer herds. In Maryland, however, even the Department of Natural Resources admits that CWD is not believed to be present anywhere in the state.
Besides Vernon’s deer, Allen Anderson of Pasadena, who owned a herd of 14 fallow deer, also saw his deer killed. Laura Perry of Severn had one fallow deer, but rather than allow the NRP to do the euthanizing, a family member killed the deer and gave the animal’s head to the NRP.
Brain tissue from each deer was sent to a laboratory to check for CWD.
Why all these people owned fallow deer, a native of Europe and the British Isles, is not known. Vernon’s deer were bought at a Pennsylvania game farm and, according to him, permits to own such animals are not required.
The NRP, however, disagrees. Cpl. Ken Turner, an NRP spokesman, said special permits are indeed required to keep deer — any deer. But because of the threat of CWD, the state says it has not issued such permits since 1984.
Bob Beyer, deputy director of wildlife and heritage for the Department of Natural Resources, would not address accusations about rude and overbearing behavior by the NRP. However, in the case of Anderson’s fallow deer herd, he said, “It seems the man operated a game husbanding operation. The NRP apparently got a tip from someone that he had 14 illegal deer, and they acted on it.
“We feel bad about having to do this. I wasn’t there [when all this happened], but we don’t relish such things.”
Beyer reminded a caller that deer are deer. Fallow deer are no exception and fears of contracting CWD is why they are being euthanized.
Meanwhile, the animals’ brain samples have been sent either to a laboratory in Ames, Iowa, or the University of Wyoming, two facilities that are able to accurately detect the presence of CWD.
While all this is being sorted out, perhaps the state’s game law officials will send some of their NRP members to charm school to teach them how to deal with otherwise law-abiding citizens. These fallow deer owners were not criminals by any stretch of the imagination, so the handcuffing of Vernon, for instance, was uncalled for. In fact, an Annapolis court commissioner told the cops as much.
Still, I have little sympathy for people who insist on owning wildlife. Wildlife belongs in the wild, not inside a fence. If you want to look at something that eats grass or hay, buy a cow.
EVENTS
Free firearms safety locks — Nov. 4-5, at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Arundel Mills in Hanover, Md., noon to 6 p.m. Named Project ChildSafe, this is a national program which hopes to distribute 20 million gun safety kits nationwide.
Waterfowl Festival — Nov. 12-14, throughout the city of Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. See details on Web at www.waterfowlfestival.org or phone 410/822-4567.
• Look for Gene Mueller’s Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday, and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com
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