Damn Deer
This is something the east side of Cleveland deals with quite a bit. What to do with the over population of deer. I live right next to the city of Solon which has continually taken controversial steps to control the deer population. I do not remember the exact numbers but I believe the deer population was as high as 30 deer per square mile nearly double than what it should be. One fact I know for sure is that 175 car accidents due to deer occurred just in Solon. Last year Solon city council decided to have a culling of about 600 of the dear and then donate the meat to local food banks. The culling took place with licensed sharpshooters who took head shots to make it as humane as possible. This year the issue was the feeding of dear. People decided to feed the deer in order to keep them around their house and not in the areas where the culling took place. Now this has also brewed a local fire storm. Some citizens said arrest me and send me to jail or we will move if you pass this ordinance. It was also discussed on how police would find out if the ordinance was being broken. I believe feeding any wild animal is a bad idea and should never be done. I also think the thinning of the population is necessary. In America there are 1.5 million accidents with deer resulting in nearly 1 billion dollars in damages which was stated in this article. I also have a personal connection to this when my parents came home late the other night when they hit a deer on their way home. Luckily there was only minor damage to the car and my parents were fine. This accident did occur in Solon. The deer also managed to get away but my parents believed it was badly injured. So to all the people who say poor deer why do we shoot them, I ask, which is better, starving to death, being hit by a car and then bleeding out, or shot in the head? I know there are many arguments on both sides but I believe the city of Solon is doing what it has to in order to protect the welfare of its citizens. For more information go here and here
Finally if you live in the Cleveland area take a look at this and help someone out in need.
Comments
Posted by: Jeffrey T. Verespej
Posted on: December 21, 2005 12:16 PM
It's funny that you should bring this up...you silly eastsider :-)
We have the problem on the West side as well, I don't know if it's as bad as it is out in Solon, but being that we are still so wooded and have the Metroparks nearby, we have had ideas go up and down about what to do with the deer population out by the old home. And actually, I also know plenty of people who have hit deer with their cars (parents & friends)
Haha.
-JTV
Posted by: John
Posted on: December 21, 2005 03:12 PM
I would figure you have this problem on the Westside and even in the center of Cuyahoga like Independence where a man was arrested for feeding deer. It just seems to me that either it is a bigger problem on the Eastside or the news makes it bigger problem on the Eastside because Solon decides to take such measures to control it.