City locks and loads again for deer
Money for culling 200 or more deer has been put into the city's 2008-09 budget.
By Mason Adams 981-3253
Roanoke is once again taking aim at the city's deer population.
City officials contracted A All Animal Control -- a nuisance-wildlife company with offices in Roanoke -- to bait and cull 200 or more deer between Monday and April 1, according to a news release.
"The city has committed $30,000 to meet that goal," Roanoke spokeswoman Melinda Mayo said. "After the 200 deer are removed, the city will assess whether to go further with the program."
The meat will be donated to Roanoke charities or to Hunters for the Hungry.
The city has in the past operated the deer-culling program using, at various times, retired police officers, federal sharpshooters and a Connecticut-based wildlife management company.
Culling within the city was instituted after a citizen task force recommended a multipronged strategy in 2002. The recommendation -- particularly baiting -- was hotly debated by the Roanoke City Council before it ultimately voted to authorize the program.
Over three years, more than 370 deer were killed as part of the program.
But "after implementing the program for three years, the city determined the deer problem was no longer an issue," Mayo said. "By the third year, very few deer were being removed, and the city decided it was not cost-effective."
No money was budgeted for the program last year, but it was reinstated for the 2008-09 fiscal year because of numerous deer damage complaints, increased deer-related car wrecks and efforts to prevent the spread of disease, according to the release.
Mayo said the complaints came to the city manager's office and council members mostly from residents of "suburban neighborhoods adjacent to large wooded areas" such as Garden City in Southeast and the Deyerle neighborhood in Southwest.
November tends to be the worst month for collisions between deer and automobiles, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau insurance company. For the first nine months of 2008, the Farm Bureau said in a news release, it saw 1,532 claims related to deer collisions.
The Highway Loss Data Institute shows that in Virginia there have been 41 fatalities resulting from collisions with animals over the past 15 years.
Residents interested in having deer removed from their property may contact the Roanoke Police Department's animal control unit at 853-1690.
