His garden has been stripped to nothing. The banks of his pond are all torn up. And his cedar trees are being eaten away.
Too many critters are reeking havoc on Larry Morgan’s land.
The 62-year-old admits he enjoys seeing the wildlife on his five-and-a-half acre Ellis Road property, and wife Linda considers them her pets. But, Morgan said, ‘We need to control them because there is too many.?
That’s why when Morgan heard fellow Independence Township resident Bill Kunse was lobbying for a firearm discharge ban in the area, he wanted to be sure to vocalize the other side of the issue.
‘I’ve had 40 deer cross my backyard in one evening,? Morgan said, noting all that’s left of his hostas is the stems and his cannies, which usually grow to be eight feet tall, were eaten down to less than half that in one day.
‘That’s what too many deer do. When you can’t grow a garden it’s pretty bad. Something has to be done.?
Morgan, who has lived in his current home since 1969 and was born and raised in Clarkston, said he has a war with muskrats, woodchucks and raccoons who eat from the bird feeder, enter his barn, and burrow in the banks of his pond.
‘That’s the kind of stuff we deal with. I love the animals, but they definitely need to be controlled. This is why we don’t need a gun law change,? he said. ‘We can’t stop discharging firearms. We have a need to discharge firearms, if that’s taken away from us I don’t know who’s going to pick up the slack. We can’t leave it up to the township or the DNR.?
Critter control is a time consuming project, Morgan said. He’s often sat out in his yard for hours waiting for that pesky muskrat or woodchuck or what have you to come by.
He feels trapping a critter and releasing it elsewhere just moves the problem to someone else, so hunting is the solution.
Morgan has been hunting since childhood and says discharging firearms simply requires safe usage.
‘If you use common sense, it’s not an issue,? he said, adding someone has more of a chance of getting injured in traffic then getting shot on a property by a stray bullet.
‘If I want to hunt on my property or let someone else hunt on my property, that’s up to me. Don’t take other people’s rights away.?
Kunse, of Reese Road, said he doesn’t believe Independence Township has lived up to its responsibility regarding gun laws, with the increased population this area has experienced. ‘The demographics of this area have drastically changed since the DNR regulations were written and they definitely need to be reviewed.?
Kunse hopes to form a citizen committee and seek out help from township officials in approving a firearm ban.
But Morgan said he’ll be right there along the way, protesting and standing up for his rights.