By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Reporter
Vision Air Research has done the deer census in Fort Thomas
since 2010 and will continue to do so.
Fort Thomas City Administrator Don Martin said the city likes
Vision Air’s work. Vision Air Research is based in Boise, Idaho. President and
founder Susan Bernatas has more than 18 years of experience conducting such
research.
“There are very few
companies that have the equipment and expertise to conduct infrared aerial
surveys,” Martin said. “Vision Air is
highly qualified and is recommended by other municipalities who have used them.
Additionally, using the same company to conduct the surveys ensures consistent
methodologies are employed which result in more accurate survey results. For
example, they fly the same transects, use the same airplane and use the same
equipment. They use the same wildlife biologist to conduct the actual counts,
so the survey results are more accurate for the purpose of year-to-year
comparisons. Having this consistency provides an added measure of credibility
to the surveys.”
Bernatas also has eight years of experience working with aerial technologies such as forward-looking infrared
(FLIR) to conduct wildlife surveys. Bernatas took on a three-year project to
configure sheep population estimates for the United States Air Force.
Vision Air Research has conducted three surveys altogether.
The company could not conduct one in 2012 because of heavy snowfall in the area
and a warmer spring that caused trees to come out earlier.
The last survey concluded on Jan. 21 of this year. There were
not any accidents or injuries reported during the 2012/2013 year. But the
deer-related vehicle accidents did increase from 19 to 20 from last year. No
vehicle accidents were caused by deer last year, but one bicycle rider did
receive injuries after colliding with a deer on Covert Run Pike. The surveys
have seen the deer population decrease from 205 in 2010 to 132 in 2011 and 96
this year.
Deer surveys done from January, 2003 to December, 2012
concluded that people are most likely to see deer on Memorial Parkway and Route
8. There have been 42 accidents with deer on Memorial Parkway during that time
and 20 on Route 8. Alexandria Pike saw 17 accidents with 12 each occurring on
I-275 and North Grand Avenue.
“As long as there are
deer in the city, there will be deer/vehicle accidents,” Martin said. “The city is not trying to eliminate all
deer from the city. Instead, the city is attempting to reduce the frequency and
number of deer/vehicle accidents. Other methods the city may employ has not yet
been determined.”