Posted on 09/25/2015 6:35:52 AM PDT by SJackson
Ashland has a big, bad deer problem.
Boisterous bucks and disorderly does are reportedly picking fights with residents in this southern Oregon city of nearly 21,000, stalking the mayor, chasing a family down the sidewalk and – in the rarest of instances – stampeding a senior citizen in her carport.
"I think it's a problem," Ashland Mayor John Stromberg said Monday, "and that's why I'm doing this."
"This" is Deer Summit 2015, a televised town hall scheduled for Wednesday. Residents and politicians will gather to discuss the city's No. 1 nuisance: "aggressive deer and what can be done about them."
Conflicts between wildlife and urbanites are nothing new. A black bear holed up next to a Tualatin elementary school several years ago. A Salem owl made national news earlier this year when it harassed park-goers. And complaints about deer – typically the docile sort, scorned for nibbling at garden plants – have been a near constant for decades in several southern Oregon cities.
But now the deer aren't just picking apart neighbors' backyards. They've become downright mean, in part because of Ashland's hospitable residents.
deer2.jpg
Deer frequent Lithia Park, a 93-acre downtown landmark adjacent to Ashland City Hall and Oregon Shakespeare Festival stages. Ashland's mayor will host a Deer Summit on Sept. 23, 2015, to discuss options for dealing with "aggressive deer."
Janet Eastman
Normally, deer are scared of people. But nearly 300 miles south of Portland, at the base of the Siskiyou Mountains, generations of deer have roamed Ashland neighborhoods. Not isolated trails, mind you; they're regularly spotted on major roads leading to downtown.
People, in turn, have fed the animals, or allowed them to hang out care-free in backyards.
"Over the decades, people have not put the fear into the deer," said Mark Vargas, a wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "When deer don't fear people, they come closer and don't look at them as a threat."
That's all pictures and postcards – right up until emboldened deer start getting spooked.
Does are known for defending their fawns, especially if they feel threatened by a nearby pedestrian or family pet. Bucks can be ornery during breeding season.
Instead of flight, some deer decide to fight.
That's the story Ashland resident Sandra Pastorius recalled for the City Council at a July meeting.
Last fall, Pastorius happened upon a buck in her carport.
"It leapt and knocked me over," she said. "I had one hoof on my foot and one on my thigh. If it would've been my heart, or my guts, as I say, I wouldn't be sitting here now."
At the same meeting, Claudia Law flashed a picture of her little dog and told the City Council about an incident three years ago. Her voice quavered as she recalled the encounter – which involved no physical harm.
"She and I were followed for about a half a mile by a doe and two older fawns, about within 10 feet, and we were both so traumatized that it's remained with me," Law said.
"Over the decades, people have not put the fear into the deer," Mark Vargas, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Law, who lives a few minutes from downtown, recalled another doe approaching a neighbor the night before she testified.
"We're all afraid down on B Street," she said. "There are does down there that are so aggressive."
Resident Ann Barton questioned if city or state officials would approve birth control for deer, or, more dramatically, an organized kill. Either way, she wanted action.
"There's a lot of passing the buck back and forth, excuse my pun," she complained.
Vargas, the lead wildlife biologist in southern Oregon for the past 15 years, recalls numerous deer complaints. But solutions aren't simple. Birth control would be "absolutely impossible in a community like Ashland," he said.
And a cull would require killing 40 to 60 deer a year, he said, something that's unlikely to gain political support from Ashland leaders or bureaucratic approval from the state.
"Are you serious?" said Stromberg, the mayor, when asked about an organized kill. "Have you ever been to Ashland?"
Hoping to avoid dramatic reactions, city officials began allowing residents to install 8-foot-high deer fences. A few years back, the City Council approved fines for anyone who feeds deer – with penalties now reaching $475.
A city spokeswoman couldn't remember any violations, just warnings.
Stromberg hopes his Deer Summit will yield solutions that other efforts haven't.
"I believe it can lead to a different outcome," said the mayor, himself the one-time victim of a doe who "stalked" him 100 feet into his backyard.
And if nothing else changes, the state biologist hopes Ashland residents toughen up around deer.
"Don't befriend it," he said. "Don't let it know you're a nice guy."
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I make steaks and chops and meatballs and sausage out of ‘em. They do t attack me when I do that
Kill them and eat them?
Coffee deer, the attack has begun!
Uh huh. The last time I visited Orygone it was as infested with stinking liberals as is kalifornia. And everybody knows liberals are above the law.
They're feeding the cute bambis and are reaping the result of their tree hugging silliness.
They're allowing residents to build anti deer fences? Stupid liberals. They need to open hunting season. Give the meat to soup kitchens, whatever.
Liberals. The bane of civilization.
“Resident Ann Barton questioned if city or state officials would approve birth control for deer, or, more dramatically, an organized kill”
WTH.....People as a whole have collectively lost their ability to use their brains...
We have a very effective solution to the problem of animals attacking humans. You wear it on your hip and keep it loaded.
I plinked a doe in my back yard with my BB gun
They now visit my neighbors next door but not me
We seem to have at least 10 identifiable resident deer in the neighborhood
All was well till they ate wife’s pride and joy caladiums
Went to College there ... Good Memories
Wow.. in the runup to deer season... cheeky little beasties, ain’t they?
Ashland, surrounded by conservative Southern Oregon, is the most liberal scum hole in Oregon....devolved beyond Eugene and Portland. Child sacrifice is the norm...but don’t touch an animal. Immediately after 9-11, the local scum were burning American flags that people had on display in their yards.
Even animals understand the blokes have disarmed themselves. Maybe the rabbits will turn on them as well. Nature. You got to love it.
OMG a deer followed her and her dog 3 years ago.
Ashland is a liberal enclave. They deserve this Bambi beatdown.
Did Oregon recently raise its tobacco excise taxes?
Below is a story about a deer stealing cigarettes from someone:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/deer-attacks-steals-smokes-article-1.1204999
Beau has been at Bear Camp up in, ‘Da Nort’ Woods’ for the past two weeks. (I can smell him from here, LOL!) He’s been guiding for the various Hunt Clubs that cycle through.
So far, 18 Black Bear have been taken from 150 lbs. up to 409 lbs., dressed.
Last night he told me he’s seen more deer this year than ever before, and the younger dogs-in-training are sometimes taking off to chase them, vs, chasing the bears, which is not something you want in a Bear Dog, of course!
So, I’d agree it’s most likely a problem. Beau spends more time in the field than he does at work or home combined, so he notices this stuff. ;)
“All was well till they ate wife’s pride and joy caladium.”
Oh, boy! That’s definitely a reason to shoot first and ask questions later, LOL!
Beau had our steer, ‘Dinner,’ tied out on the west side of the house to graze. He had a little too much rope and ate ALL of the Hosta on that side of the house.
Yeah, I wasn’t entirely HAPPY about that - but Hosta grow back - like weeds!
And besides, we later ate him, LOL! ;)
In the past, some cities overrun with deer have brought in professionals who, after dark, go out with silenced, low velocity rifles, night scopes and quietly wipe out the deer.
They drag them to a truck where they are quietly processed into meat for soup kitchens.
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