A pair of white-tailed deer browse in the snow near Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has adopted a new regulation that clarifies what does, and doesn’t, constitute illegal feeding of deer or moose. It also establishes a requirement related to food labeling and provides a procedure for the use and authorization of automated tick control devices.

The regulation, adopted on Christmas Eve, builds upon existing laws designed to reduce the risk of wildlife disease transmission.

There are exemptions to the new deer-moose feeding rule for wildlife plantings, agricultural practices, livestock husbandry, research and nuisance abatement permitted by the department. The regulation clarifies that “incidental feeding” — like a deer or moose being attracted to a bird feeder — will be considered a violation only if the DEC has previously issued a written warning the person responsible.

The new regulation requires food, or any edible deer or moose attractants that are packaged for sale, to have a label that informs customers using the products for that purpose is illegal in New York.

The regulation also establishes legal procedures and permit issuance conditions for tick control devices that dispense 4-Poster Tickicide, a pesticide registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the DEC to kill ticks on deer. It is dispensed by four rollers, or “posts,” attached to bait stations filled with corn. As deer eat the corn, the rollers deposit pesticide on their heads and necks.

In parts of New York with high tick-borne disease rates, there is considerable public interest in using these devices, according to the DEC. The application procedures and permit issuance conditions specified in the new regulation are designed to allow such use while limiting the negative impacts of deer feeding on the surrounding community and environment.