One of the micro-reasons why I started this petition was because our "senior" community has been given information to scare them into believing we needed a deer management program. One of the scare tactics is that they WILL get Lyme's disease. The records from Williamson County & Cities Health District Quarterly Report of Current Year Notifiable Conditions Interestingly show a single case of Lyme's disease in Williamson County and that was in 2016. The report doesn't detail whether or not the person contracted it here or if they came to the area after infection and then sought treatment. The reports also state that they can be over or under reported as a notation to the report but our overall risk of infection by Lyme's disease is .1% When you look at the reports, our biggest worry is Salmonella and I promise you it is not from the deer. 

Just for source checking I looked at this record: https://www.tickcheck.com/stats/county/texas/williamson-county/lyme

It states that we have had a total of 23 reported cases from 2000-2018, so in 18 years only 23 reported cases and they do not report that those cases were contracted in Williamson County, simply that they were diagnosed here. Your risk from other diseases is demonstrably greater than Lyme's disease. This is an another excuse that has been used as another prop to push the deer netting in Sun City. 

I believe we need to make sure that at annual new resident meetings;  those statements are supported with full documentation from the health department so that they are not frightened of the deer, just to perpetuate this abuse of netting. Sadly, this is an aging population and very easily manipulated and we need to stop that, as much as, the deer netting itself. 

Finally, I want to shout out to the following commentators:

Cathyann Burns for her comment: Net the rosebushes, not the deer.

Beth Ann Grosso for her comment that really resonated with me: Animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind's capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights, power or a claim to equality, but because they don't. They all stand unequal and powerless before us. 

Rosanna Anderson for her comment: Trapping deer is cruel, inhumane, unnecessary, and disturbs the natural balance. Stop killing animals. 

Thank you for all your comments, I read every single one; and thank you for signing this petition. Our message needs to be clear, NO MORE DEER NETTING!!

Tomorrow's subject: Rebalancing deer populations after netting stops.