The deer population in Monroe county is exploding at the seams, and with the recent deer cull being cancelled due to not enough participants, these furry friends are quickly becoming foes.
“A task force was formed at the city. And it was a joint city county deer task force, and they were looking at the issue of deer over-abundance at Griffey Lake Nature Preserve and also at deer over-abundance in urban areas of Bloomington,” said Steve Cotter, Natural Resources Manager of the Bloomington Parks and Recreation department.
Some of the deer at Griffey Lake nature preserve have moved from their wooded homes into Bloomington neighborhoods, even making it as far as First Street and beyond. Although that seems far from Griffey, there are nature preserves and parks all around Bloomington neighborhoods. Many areas, including Bryant park and trails near Lake Lemon are close to neighborhoods in the southern part of the city, and deer are making an appearance. these places are also where deer are found.
“We see a lot of deer in our neighborhood. I see them out when I run, a lot,” said Bloomington resident Lauren Smith.
Experts says they can be a traffic hazard, especially in more wooded areas in neighborhoods. If a street isn’t well-lit, drivers can fail to see deer crossing or standing in the road, until it is too late and can cause damage.

In Bloomington, in the year 2000, there were a reported 41 car crashes involving deer, costing an average of more than a thousand dollars per accident. By 2011, the number was up to 110. Although there has been an increase in deer-related car crashes, many of these happen at high speeds on rural roads, not in neighborhoods, according to the Bloomington Government website.
“The main way we control the deer population in Bloomington is hitting them with cars. And that’s expensive and dangerous, and, inhumane. It’s not a very nice way for deer to die,” Cotter said.
Cotter says the deer are moving into these neighborhoods because of the lack of vegetation in nature preserves like Griffey Lake. Researchers have proven, based of University funded research over the past five years, that the deer at Griffey Lake have been consuming so much of the vegetation that native species of plants weren’t having time to regrow quick enough for other omnivores at the nature preserve. This obviously has a negative effect on the other wildlife at Griffey Lake.

“The big issue for us is that the plants that all of the other species, including deer, depend on at Griffey Lake Nature Preserve were being impacted by the deer,” Cotter explained.
Since the deer have no natural predators, this is where humans have to come in and take control of the problem.
“What they [researchers] recommended for Griffey Lake Nature Preserve is that we hire a sharp-shooter to come in and remove some of the deer by shooting them,” Cotter said.
Last year the sharp shooter killed 62 deer at Griffey Lake. All of the meat was harvested and taken to local food banks. The sharp shooter cost the city $43,500. This year Monroe County was given a grant to allow hunters from across the state to come to Griffey and participate in a Deer Cull.
Hunters would be allowed to use guns, however there is no bating allowed. Hunters were allowed to shoot a specific number of deer each and keep the meat if they desire, or donate to the local food banks.
But the only way the county could get the grant was by getting at least 46 hunters to participate. This year the county had just 23 and was forced to postpone the deer cull until next year. However, the sharp-shooter will still be hired to remove as many deer as possible in the coming weeks.
“We’ll notify all of the adjacent land owners before the hunt or sharp shoot occurs. We hire a security firm to drive around the perimeter of the park to warn people about the activities taking place and to make sure people can’t access the park,” Cotter stated when asked about safety precautions taking place for the public.
All sharp shooting will be done during the early mornings and the park will have signs up warning the public about the shooter.
For more information about the deer population in Bloomington or the sharp shooter you can contact the Bloomington Parks Department regarding their Deer Task Force.