Two city employees, Stanek and Miller, have already set population numbers at 600-700. Of course both have vested interests in an inflated count. A number of residents, some with large properties , have said they rarely see any deer. It will be interesting to see how this perceived "problem" plays out. As one resident said at the meeting , maybe the accident problem is more one of speeding drivers,which is something most people would agree with.

Solon officials publicly stated at last night's meeting they would submit to another open public meeting, this time, with non-lethal, national experts offering advice on how to help with deer conflicts sans birth control (since the DOW doesn't allow it). This was posited as an "equal time" request, including time for city council on safety to final spend some time research rebound from a scientific standpoint, something this writer is appalled has not transpired by now.

A bit confused. First, it was announced that the annual deer kills must start up again based on Solon's animal warden's population count. Now they want to spend $30K for another count or have him do another count for $5K? The mayor said that 3-400 deer must be killed based again on the animal warden's count. What's really going on here. Why doesn't council do their job and bring in experts on non-lethal solutions? The answer is pathetically obvious. Professionals have contacted them offering to come in and give presentations on Wildlife Crossing Guard systems and how to protect your landscaping but they were either ignored or told they were going to work with Wildlife Services. Solon officials better come up with some new propaganda. The residents bought it last time but they aren't so naive second time around.

Frankly, the more I think about it the more I'm inclined to go along with the deer count program. Up until now we have only a few years of data, mostly during the culling years, with an original count of 922 deer in 2004. Solon should count the deer annually, but without any culling taking place to see if the population levels off at a certain number. The concern, as I see it, is that Solon officials believe the deer population will "explode". If it were going to explode, it would have done so long ago. I still believe that the original count in 2004 represents a plateau in the Solon deer population and would/should be managable with non-lethal methods. We know that culling doesn't solve the problem. We know that hunting doesn't solve the problem. Deer from surrounding areas will simply move in to fill the void, or the compensatory rebound effect will do it locally. The deer we know are better than the deer we don't know. If they are going to do this, they need some scientific data that involves more reliable data than can be collected by a few years of counting using various methods. It doesn't really matter which method they choose as long as they stick to it, consistancy is key!

USDA Wildlife Service's conducted a ground survey in Mt. Lebanon PA which was a total sham. I don't believe any counts are accurate and I know the USDA ones are just fabricated to make sure they get the contract for killing deer in the community. With any population survey you can count a number of deer and then extrapolate that number in some kind of prepared calculation to give you the number of deer in a community. It's hokus pocus. Of course, these surveyor contractors know the result that the city that hired them want - they want a deer population result that will let them justify the slaughter. So if you don't think this has any influence on the results, I have a bridge to sell you.

There are many ways for them to exaggerate the numbers. Of course, there are always going to be deer in the community that don't live there, but live in the surrounding areas adjacent to the city, i.e. their home range goes into the community Including those deer will give you an inflated count. More importantly, the survey or number of deer in the city is the number of deer that triggers the culling. The USDA like to use a 3 to 5 deer per sq. mile as the carrying capacity for a suburban community. This ridiculous number will guarantee them an annual killing contract.

All of these deer per sq. mile triggers are just subjective numbers made up by someone. They aren't biological carrying capacity numbers. However, the wildlife agencies would like you to think they are.

Heinz, I understand what you're saying however you're assuming there would be some honesty invoved here. Remember council is hell bent on killing so unless an outside unbiased professional conducted the count the end result would always be the same. Too many deer! They always have a predetermined number in mind and would just spin the numbers, adjust the facts to come out in their favor no matter who did the count. What it really comes down to is cultural tolerance and how wealthy or influential the tulip growers are.

I'm perplexed why they feel a need to count the deer when they already decided we have too many and they have to kill them. I guess its so they have something to point to. Do they tell the killers to stop at a certain point? With the lack of snow and the possibility that they can't count we'll see if they still kill come Sept. 2011. My bet is they will, and the big question will be WHY?

I also can't believe they are so anxious to get started that an extra $25K for the thermal aerial count is no big deal.

The methodology is to do a count and then set a baseline and a "goal". However, from what we've seen the goal is soon forgotten and the sharpshooters or hunters merely kill as many animals as they can find. This is true especially of sharpshooters who are paid per head and bait the perimeter boundaries in order to lure in more deer from surrounding areas. Chief Godzich even mentioned this at a council meeting. Of course in places like Independence. no count was done and no goal was ever set which makes one question their real intentions from the beginning.