By Kathy Kurtz Ferrari
Staff Writer
4/21/11
When Denny Swenson and her husband Win bought a home in the Green Street area five years ago, they thought all their dreams had come true.
“We thought we had ‘arrived’ when we first bought this house,” Swenson said, as she surveyed their expansive acreage.

“We see deer all the time. We have a path that about 10 or 12 go through right over there in the morning,” Swenson said, motioning out the window of her stately home. “We kind of get to know the herds.”

Initially the Swensons were charmed with sharing their land with their furry visitors, but riding high on the backs of the deer is an unwanted tag-along: the deer tick, notorious carrier of Lyme disease.

“I came down with Lyme disease probably three years ago. I had a rash that was coming and going, and I thought it was a funny bug bite,” said Swenson, whose house on Hemenway Drive sits on the Milton/Canton line.

Within a few days, she developed fevers, aches and couldn’t get out of bed for almost a month.

“I was a good case, because I showed up with the bull’s eye rash,” she said. Many people experience mysterious symptoms, going undiagnosed for months.

After her husband came down with the same symptoms and diagnosis about a year later, Swenson started asking questions of her neighbors.

An alarming 18 members from 30 Green Street neighborhood families she spoke with had all contracted Lyme disease in the past several years. Some had repeated infections.

Hillside Street resident Gerald Friedler and his wife, Cecille, also have firsthand knowledge of the Lyme disease threat. Cecille has had the disease, along with the couple’s dog and cat. Gerald was bitten by a tick and was quickly treated with antibiotics as a precaution.

“I don’t want to make it sound like you can’t enjoy the woods,” Gerald said. “This is a problem but maybe it’s the cost of living in paradise. This is one of the greatest neighborhoods in the world.”

The Friedlers and other neighbors who enjoy the Blue Hills are joining forces with Green Street neighbors by holding an informational meeting on the potential Lyme disease epidemic. The meeting will take place Monday, April 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum, 1904 Canton Ave.

Swenson has spent countless hours researching the topic, and she has come to the conclusion that the only solution is a controlled deer hunt.

“For me, that was the absolute last resort, but I am convinced that that’s what has to happen,” Swenson said.

Local and state officials are scheduled to appear at the meeting to discuss the issue. Some have concerns about taking such drastic action.

“We have deer out in front of the police station some mornings,” Wells said. “But I don’t know how they would hold a controlled hunt. There are a lot of statutory restrictions regarding hunting.”

The chief said bow hunting is legal on private land with the owner’s permission during hunting season, which is usually held in the fall. He said shotgun hunting would be nearly impossible in the vicinity due to strict regulations.

Animal Control Officer Linda Kippenberger, who plans to attend the April 25 meeting, is against any kind of hunt to cull the deer.

“A hunt is not the answer. This is a problem; I understand that. I’m not sure what the answer is.”