Deer hunt has spread like a virus with no cure Please put an immediate halt to the Monmouth County Parks Department deer hunts. I live in Marlboro and this hunt will literally be in my backyard, and that of the development behind me. As though the close proximity to my home isn't enough, my experience has been that hunters trespass and don't respect the law. They risk being caught since the likelihood is slim. The park rangers and police are inadequate to cover such vast areas, and for such extended periods of time. Should taxpayers be expected to subsidize this venture? Every year, the Monmouth County Parks Department has free reign to extend the hunt to multiple new areas. They extend the hunting season, increase the number of deer to be killed, and eliminate exemptions. You don't have to be Einstein to realize the hunts have accomplished nothing and are questionable if they are even warranted. As a taxpayer, I resent that I am restricted from areas and seasons that I enjoy in the park. Why doesn't the Monmouth County Parks Department have to prove its case instead of putting together data based on speculation and biased information? Regarding the petty and unfounded complaints, I submit the following clarifications: + If the deer are eating someone's flowers or garden, then repellents, electric wires, etc., can be used. If insects, rabbits or frost were the problem, steps would be taken to protect them. You shouldn't expect not to lift a finger to help protect yourself + According the Monmouth County Parks Department, the deer are eating a plant that could make a certain bird extinct. If this is true, deforesting huge tracts of land to build a 500-house development is counter-productive to saving this bird too! Does this plant exist only in the parks, and none of the neighboring land? + Increased car-deer accidents. What accidents haven't increased due to the sheer volume of additional cars per mile as a result of overdevelopment? The majority of vehicular accidents do not involve deer. This hunt has spread like a virus with no cure. In fact, no one is even questioning the origin or reason for it. I implore you, as my representatives, to put the Monmouth County Parks Department "feet to the fire." Require them to produce scientific, independent and unbiased proof of their findings. I live where I do for the bucolic nature and serenity of the area. Please do not put my family or that of my neighbors in harm's way to appease a small percentage of the population, the hunters. When an accident occurs, it's too late and impossible to make it right. This hunt is a tremendous liability and unjustified. Do what's right, now. Stop the hunts! Charlotte Barone Marlboro