Solon May Enlist USDA to Run Deer Culling Program

Solon may enlist the U.S. Department of Agriculture to run the city's deer culling program.

Public Works Commissioner Jim Stanek told the safety committee Wednesday that he will huddle with USDA wildlife officials and find out how much it would cost to have the agency manage Solon's deer program.  includes three options for killing deer to reduce their numbers, and a number of nonlethal options to support a stable deer herd.

Stanek said he will get cost information from the USDA and bring it back to the safety committee at its June meeting. The on the opportunity to have the agency run a deer program for the city.

All three members of the committee – councilmen Ed Kraus, Bill Russo and Rick Bell – said some form of lethal method would be needed to slash the deer numbers and reduce vehicle accidents.

"There is irrefutable evidence that culling works," Kraus said. "Whether you agree with the culling of deer itself, the numbers speak for themselves."

While officials say the draft deer plan includes both lethal and nonlethal options, Solon's need to reduce the herd size puts the priority on lethal methods. Solon has about 34 deer per square mile. About 10 to 15 deer per square mile would be a healthy number for Solon, officials said.

Russo said more communities are realizing they need to take control of the deer population. Since 1970, Ohio's deer population has surged from 17,000 to roughly 750,000, a staggering increase.

"Nonlethal methods, as far as controlling the herd, is just not practical reality," Russo said.

Solon's draft plan, which needs to be approved by city council, includes three methods of killing deer: trapping and euthanizing them in busy areas where hunting is not an option, crossbow hunting in secluded parts of the city and using professional sharpshooters.

Sharpshooting, which Solon used earlier this decade, is the most effective way to reduce the herd size, but also the most expense. Solon spent nearly $500 per deer over a four-year period to kill about 1,300 deer using hunting company White Buffalo.

Russo said using the pilot crossbow program could reduce the cost of sharpshooting.

Trapping and euthanizing, which the city explored but shied away from several years ago, involves luring deer into traps, where they can then be killed humanely, Stanek said. 

That method is effective in more populous areas where hunting is not a good option, Stanek said.

But all of the city's deer planning could become moot. Right now, anti-hunting residents and other advocates are in hopes of putting an anti-hunting ordinance on the ballot.