Boston -- They carry Lyme disease and eat trees, shrubs and plants in forests and in yards. Now state agencies are taking a look at controlling the growing deer population in one of the most overrun areas in Massachusetts.

An area inside Blue Hills Reservation may look like nothing more than a bunch of dried out, broken plants, but Tom O'Shea of the Division of Wildlife and Fisheries said it's been ravaged by an overpopulation of deer that feed on the vegetation.
"The forest loses the ability to regenerate itself, and a lot of younger forest might not regenerate and come up," said O'Shea.

Now the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns Blue Hills, is considering a controlled hunting program to bring down the deer population. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is advising them.

"We know that in general in this region of the state, eastern Massachusetts, deer populations are higher than goal. And when you have a large area without hunting access, you have a good likelihood of a very high deer population," said O'Shea.
Denny Swenson lives in nearby Canton. Her home borders the Blue Hills Reservation.

"I've had Lyme disease twice, my husband had it twice, many of my neighbors have had it," said Swenson.

At a recent town meeting, residents from Milton and Canton discussed deer control, believing the region was suffering from an epidemic of Lyme disease. In nearby Dover, bow hunting to control the deer population began last October.
"It seems that the healthiest approach is to cull the population down to a healthy level, and that's for the health of the deer, the community and ecology and forestry," said Swenson.

But the Massachusetts Society For The Prevention of Cruelty To Animals says strategies should be used that are "humane, effective and long lasting," and that deer hunting isn't an effective way to successfully reduce the deer population.
O'Shea disagreed.

"The deer are used to being hunted by animals or people. It's part of their evolution," said O'Shea.

"They're beautiful, graceful animals," said Swenson. "It's heartbreaking that this is the best solution. But based on all the experts, this is unfortunately the only effective management program," she said.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation emphasizes they are only studying the possibility of deer hunting in and around Blue Hills. There are other solutions on the table, including fencing.