MetroParks study takes aim at deer data

By Elise Franco | February 24, 2011 at 12:07a.m.

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BOARDMAN

Mill Creek MetroParks officials, worried that the deer population once again is too high, will conduct a study to determine if some type of control is necessary.

Kristen Peetz, MetroParks environmental-land manager, said the park’s deer population has been increasing for years and became such a problem in the late 1990s that a controlled hunt was organized.

Between 1998 and 2001, 119 deer were taken out of the Hitchcock Woods area by bow hunters, Peetz said. Hitchcock Woods is a part of the MetroParks that run south of U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.

She said though they’re not yet sure how many deer populate the wooded area, or if another controlled hunt is on the horizon, it’s clear by the lack of vegetation near the forest floor that the problem persists.

“They eat the understory of the forest, and that area is void of plant life,” she said.

Peetz said to get a grasp on the number of deer in the park, the MetroParks will do aerial infrared surveys of Hitchcock Woods at night during the cold months.

Clarke Johnson, Metro- Parks executive director, said deer tend to herd together, especially during heavy winters, making it easier to spot them.

“They’ll go en masse to find food,” he said. “Then they scatter in the summer.”

She said that once spring breaks, they’ll also begin to monitor the forest’s vegetation and the amount of deer droppings in areas deer are known to frequent.

“The concept of deer management is very sensitive,” Peetz said. “We will go out and establish plots [of the forest] that will be monitored throughout the year. We’ll be looking for diversity in the plant life.”

Peetz said they’ll know if an area is overpopulated by a “lack of plant diversity.”

Johnson said people are partly to blame for the deer overpopulation.

“The way humans develop and landscape provides places where these animals can survive,” he said. “It also eliminates predators and creates an imbalance.”

Bill Barsch, of South Shore Drive, Boardman, said he’s noticed signs of deer on his property for many years.

“We see the results of them more than we see them,” he said. “When we’re mowing the lawn, we see piles in the yard.”

Barsch said he was forced to fence in his garden to keep the deer from eating his vegetation. This past winter, however, he decided to take the fence down to see if the deer would graze on leftover herbs.

“We have to protect our garden,” he said. “I know they’re still around though. I left the Swiss chard for the deer, and two days later, it was eaten down to the ground.”

Johnson said though the last thing the MetroParks wants to do is “manage the wildlife,” action must be taken at some point.

Peetz said data collected over the next one to two years will determine if a hunt is needed.

Johnson said though he recognizes that some may feel wary of a controlled hunt in the park, other researched methods of control — such as trapping and sterilization — are too costly and ineffective.

“Of course there are concerns and humane issues with the hunting,” he said. “We want it to be done responsibly.”

Geoff Westerfield, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife biologist, said there really isn’t a downside to a properly executed controlled hunt.

“It’s the cheapest, most effective option you have,” he said. “It’s something that’s used across the world. If it was an unsafe practice, it wouldn’t be used.”

Westerfield said this type of action is sometimes necessary to maintain a park system.

“The park district is there to provide a park for people and at the same time produce the best park they can for those people,” he said. “When you get into those situations, it’s because you have a need for it.”

Johnson said the deer problem is no greater than it’s always been, but enough time has passed to take another look.

“It’s been about 10 years,” he said. “It’s time to look at it again.”