USDA, Ohio Wildlife Officials Brief Solon on Deer Issues

State and federal wildlife officials dropped into the controversy Wednesday to offer advice on how the city should proceed with deer management.

The advice was taken well by the safety and public properties committee, which is looking to build a comprehensive deer management program  to reduce deer-involved car accidents as deer populations rise in Solon. The safety committee is expected to receive a recommended plan from staff by May 1.

But the crowd – bearing signs against deer hunting and criticizing the state and federal organizations for a pro-hunting bias – asked the committee to consult experts in nonlethal deer management before making a decision. The committee members said they were interested in consulting as many experts as possible.

Briefing the committee was Andrew Montoney, the state director and wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Scott Peters, acting wildlife management supervisor for the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Montoney and Peters said that Solon needed to think hard and develop a goal for a deer management program, because the components of any program depended on the goal for the community.

They also said that deer management needs to be an ongoing effort and involve multiple strategies, including both lethal and nonlethal methods.

"You can't do it in one season," Peters said.

Solon is now dealing with the result of a start-stop method of deer control. For about five years, Solon had a deer control program led by contracted sharpshooters that reduced the deer population and, as a result, the number of deer-car accidents. 

But that program was cut in 2009 for budget reasons. Since then, the deer populations have rebounded. By the end of the year, the herd numbers are expected to bounce back to about 1,000, essentially where Solon was before hiring the snipers.

Any comprehensive deer strategy would require lethal methods, officials said.

Ohio municipalities are limited on the non-lethal methods they can use. Deer contraception is illegal in Ohio, as is trapping deer and releasing them elsewhere, Peters said.

Peters said that to stabilize a growing deer population, it's necessary to remove 30 percent of the herd, with three-quarters of those deer being antler-less.

Montoney said that a comprehensive strategy needs to involve many options and even change year to year depending on the situation.

"There's no single technique or tool that's going to solve your issue," he said.

One focus of the discussion was the effectiveness of nonlethal lighting deterrents on streets to prevent deer from crossing. Solon had installed one such device, called Strieter-Lites, at two locations on the north side of town, on SOM Center Road and Cannon Road.

Ward 6 Councilman and Vice Mayor Ed Kraus said he believe the lights were effective deterrents, despite Peters' saying that deer can become acclimated to the technique, making its effectiveness dwindle as time passes.

Members of the public also supported Strieter-Lites and non-hunting deer deterrents. 

Resident John Nolan questioned the deer problem and said that he rarely sees any deer.

"I don't see that many deer, let alone ones that are jumping out in front of my car," he said.

He suggested that one part of the problem may be that many deer-car accidents are on the drivers, who are often speeding, or eating or busy using a cell phone.