UPDATED PHONE NUMBER 914-478-3400 extension 655: Message from the Mayor: Car safety, deer darting
Posted on: September 25, 2018 - 3:49pm
A shorter note as a bridge to a longer one later.
Pedestrian Safety
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It is ridiculous that this has to be said, but pedestrians have the right of way, even when they don’t, period. We have had a spate of car collisions with people over the course of the last two weeks -it’s hard to believe, frankly. Are we so distracted, texting, on our phones, so eager to get to the next location that we don’t see people crossing the street? Apparently, in the case of three pedestrians hit in the last two weeks, that is so. Just mind-boggling (and that isn’t even including another five car accidents beyond that).
Here is my suggestion to the 99.99% of you that this does not apply to. Drive, deliberately, at the speed limit. Stop fully. Take extra care during school hours. This will add maybe thirty seconds to your trip within the borders of Hastings village. Meanwhile, you slow down those around you intent on ignoring the laws, and increase the odds that the next pedestrian crossing the street isn’t going to get aced. Slow down. We all move too fast. For the length of time it takes to read this, the length of time you added to your ride, you can help ensure your neighbor, their child, a friend isn’t hit. Please. Thanks.
Deer Re-darting
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The darting team from the Humane Society is back in town, re-darting the female deer (“does”) immunized two years ago. As a refresher to those of you who either don’t know or have forgotten about the experiment we are running here in town, we are now five years into an effort where more than 70 does in Hastings have been darted with a contraceptive that works through the deer’s immune system (thus, “immune-contraception”). The idea is as does stop having fawns, the total deer population drops. In fact, this is what is happening – there are few fawns in town, and the rightful expectation would be: fewer fawns, fewer deer, lower population. The big question has been: can we bring the deer population down faster than deer from surrounding communities immigrate in to fill the vacuum. (Answer: we don’t know yet, but maybe.) The contraception utilized by the darting team needs reinforcement after two years, so the Humane Society team darts those does whose tags correspond to those darted two years ago.
Anyway, the darting team is back in town. If you want to help this darting effort, it is easy to do so. If you see does (they have yellow tags), please call it into 914-478-3400 extension 655 and leave a message listing where you saw the does, the number you saw, and if you actually were able to see the tag, the number on the tag. The darting team may react to your call in a timely fashion, or they may use the information to develop a sense for where the does are being sighted. Either way, your call is appreciated.
There’s more going on (Octoberfest coming up on October 5th – more later!) that we will report on in subsequent emails. Meanwhile, enjoy these delightful temperatures, drive safely, and keep an eye on those does.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski