BAY VILLAGE, Ohio — The city is entering into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage the white-tailed deer population in an effort to reduce the likelihood of car and motorcycle accidents.
City Council, during its Sept. 2 meeting, agreed to spend up to $23,213 on the program, which will include hiring sharpshooters to cull the deer population.
The city first began culling operations about a decade ago.
The city will conduct a survey of residents within the next few weeks to gather their opinions on recent encounters with deer and identify problem areas.
The survey will be posted on the city’s website.
The police department also will gather statistics from the past year about how many crashes have been reported involving deer and where they occurred.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will then determine the number of deer to be culled this coming fall and winter.
The USDA coordinates the program and hires sharpshooters.
The deer population has swelled in recent years in part because deer have few predators in the area, Police Chief Robert Gillespie said following the meeting.
“They’re beautiful creatures, but if left unchecked, there are no natural predators other than cars. And that becomes dangerous for everybody,” Gillespie said.
The culling operations could begin in November or December, he said.
“We do the survey as one part of it,” he said.
“We collect all of our internal numbers. How many car crashes involved deer, how many deer have been picked up because they were injured, and information like that. All of that information is collated.”
In previous years, based on the statistics gathered, ODNR has issued approximately 15 to 25 tags — or permits — for the deer culling operation.
The operation could last anywhere from three nights to all winter, Gillespie said, depending on the movements of the deer.
“They’re such herd animals that the same deer that we have, sometimes they’re in Avon Lake, sometimes they’re in North Olmsted,” Gillespie said.
“They migrate back and forth.”
There are several wooded areas within the city, outside of the Huntington Reservation, where property owners allow the sharpshooters to operate.
“We’re actually always looking for additional locations,” Gillespie said.
“There is an acreage component to it. If you live on a tenth of an acre with your house, that’s obviously not enough room to do something.
“Generally, if you and your neighbor on either side have a nice wooded area in your back yard, we might look at that as an area.
“Obviously, the bigger the space, the better.”
Gillespie described the culling operation as popular with residents, who are concerned about car and motorcycle safety.
The city also wants to avoid confrontations between deer and residents’ dogs, which has been a problem, he said.
The meat from the culled deer is processed and donated to an area food bank, Gillespie said.
In addition to the city’s culling program, Cleveland Metroparks, which operates the Huntington Reservation in Bay Village, operates its own culling program.
Avon Lake also coordinates a culling operation at Walker Road Park, which is on the Bay Village-Avon Lake border.
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