Town and Country deer herd is thinned
By Stephen Deere
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/23/2009
TOWN AND COUNTRY -- Residents will still have to guard their gardens and dodge the deer on the roads. But they hope just not as often.
The deer herd became a little thinner in the past few weeks as sharpshooters took out 108 and four died after capture. A hundred were sterilized. Town and Country's deer population was estimated to be between 700 and 800.
For a city overrun with the four-legged creatures for more than a decade, the Christmas present came at a cost of $150,000.
The city had gotten approval from the Missouri Department of Conservation to have as many as 200 deer shot and another 200 sterilized. But Fred Meyland-Smith, chair of the city's Deer Herd Management Task Force, said they city never intended to reach those numbers.
The city conducted the sterilization and shooting during the first 16 days of this month.
Meyland-Smith said he isn't sure what the city will do in the future to manage the deer herd.
"We recognize it's an ongoing matter," he said.
Wildlife experts have said the city attracts deer with its large residential lots that offer ample food sources and places to hide.
According to the last deer head count in 2004, Town and Country had 68 deer per square mile and has grown since then. The conservation department recommends having no more than 25 deer per square mile.
This wasn't the first time the city has tried to reduce the numbers.
From 1999 to 2001, it trapped and relocated 233 deer at a cost of about $360 each. Although the program was intended as a humane method for controlling the deer problem, a study found that 20 percent died from the stress of being captured.
This time around, it appears a much smaller percentage died from being caught. White Buffalo, a Connecticut-based wildlife management company, outfitted 25 of the deer it sterilized with radio transmitters. Two of those deer died after being netted and sterilized. Two other deer were euthanized after they sustained broken legs while being captured.
The city had spent more than two years contemplating methods for controlling the deer population. Residents fiercely debated proposals. Some maintained the deer gave the city its pastoral charm.
"I'm totally disgusted at Town and Country city officials," said Jim Ambrozetes, who opposed killing deer. "Regardless of what anyone says, I think our community has been destroyed by the fact that we killed deer."
Others maintained the deer were a threat to the health and safety of residents.
Mary Whaley, a trustee in the Mason Valley subdivision where the deer have been particularly abundant, said the city walked a fine line aiming to please the two different camps.
Overall, she said White Buffalo did a good job.
"We didn't even know they were in the area," she said.
She thinks it might take a while to notice a difference. So far, the only change she sees is that a handful of deer she's encountered sport collars showing they've been sterilized. She said she's seen no noticeable dropoff in the number tracking through her and her neighbors' lawns.
"I can look out my front door and see three of them on my neighbor's lawn grazing away," she said.
By Stephen Deere
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/23/2009
TOWN AND COUNTRY -- Residents will still have to guard their gardens and dodge the deer on the roads. But they hope just not as often.
The deer herd became a little thinner in the past few weeks as sharpshooters took out 108 and four died after capture. A hundred were sterilized. Town and Country's deer population was estimated to be between 700 and 800.
For a city overrun with the four-legged creatures for more than a decade, the Christmas present came at a cost of $150,000.
The city had gotten approval from the Missouri Department of Conservation to have as many as 200 deer shot and another 200 sterilized. But Fred Meyland-Smith, chair of the city's Deer Herd Management Task Force, said they city never intended to reach those numbers.
The city conducted the sterilization and shooting during the first 16 days of this month.
Meyland-Smith said he isn't sure what the city will do in the future to manage the deer herd.
"We recognize it's an ongoing matter," he said.
Wildlife experts have said the city attracts deer with its large residential lots that offer ample food sources and places to hide.
According to the last deer head count in 2004, Town and Country had 68 deer per square mile and has grown since then. The conservation department recommends having no more than 25 deer per square mile.
This wasn't the first time the city has tried to reduce the numbers.
From 1999 to 2001, it trapped and relocated 233 deer at a cost of about $360 each. Although the program was intended as a humane method for controlling the deer problem, a study found that 20 percent died from the stress of being captured.
This time around, it appears a much smaller percentage died from being caught. White Buffalo, a Connecticut-based wildlife management company, outfitted 25 of the deer it sterilized with radio transmitters. Two of those deer died after being netted and sterilized. Two other deer were euthanized after they sustained broken legs while being captured.
The city had spent more than two years contemplating methods for controlling the deer population. Residents fiercely debated proposals. Some maintained the deer gave the city its pastoral charm.
"I'm totally disgusted at Town and Country city officials," said Jim Ambrozetes, who opposed killing deer. "Regardless of what anyone says, I think our community has been destroyed by the fact that we killed deer."
Others maintained the deer were a threat to the health and safety of residents.
Mary Whaley, a trustee in the Mason Valley subdivision where the deer have been particularly abundant, said the city walked a fine line aiming to please the two different camps.
Overall, she said White Buffalo did a good job.
"We didn't even know they were in the area," she said.
She thinks it might take a while to notice a difference. So far, the only change she sees is that a handful of deer she's encountered sport collars showing they've been sterilized. She said she's seen no noticeable dropoff in the number tracking through her and her neighbors' lawns.
"I can look out my front door and see three of them on my neighbor's lawn grazing away," she said.
