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Southold Town wants to change laws prohibiting residents from baiting and luring deer

TIM KELLY FILE PHOTO | Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.

Southold Town plans to pressure state lawmakers to change the laws prohibiting residents from baiting deer with food to lure them into an enclosure and trap them.

Town Supervisor Scott Russell said Tuesday that Southold will ask Assemblyman Dan Losquadro and state Senator Ken LaValle to introduce legislation allowing baiting and trapping in order to help cull the ever-growing deer herd.

Board members said they don’t know if the measure has as much support in other East End towns as it has in Southold.

Councilman Bill Ruland said he believes there are enough Southold residents who’ve dealt with deer tick-borne diseases and property damage caused by deer to make the state take notice if they begin a letter-writing campaign.

Mr. Russell jokingly proposed that a slogan for the campaign could be “Shoot What’s Left,” a play on the North Fork Environmental Council’s “Save What’s Left” land preservation campaign.

The town is also still working on setting up a date for a preliminary meeting of County Legislator Ed Romaine’s recently proposed tick-borne disease task force, which has taken a back seat this week as Mr. Romaine launched his campaign to serve as Brookhaven Town supervisor.