Looking past the fairytale of the deer in town

Not long ago I walked into my front yard without closing the gate behind me, a lazy habit I must admit, but moments later three deer followed behind me and walked around the side of the house and into the backyard, plopping themselves on the grass as comfortable as can be. It was pretty adorable. 

Then, a few weeks ago my daughter and I were taking a drive on Cable Road when we saw a herd of deer with a baby. The adults hopped the fence with ease while the baby just stood there. It was hard to tell whether it was confused or afraid, but we had the pleasure of watching the elders “teach” the baby to jump the fence, which after about five minutes, it finally did.

I have also witnessed on several occasions, and it never fails to make me laugh out loud, groups of deer standing at a crosswalk looking both ways and waiting for traffic, then crossing the road. Now, if that’s not domestication I don’t know what is.

My point is this: I love these beautiful little creatures. I talk to them through my windows, telepathically by the way, and I’m certain that they hear me. I tell them how much I love them, and how sweet they are, and invite them back anytime. You won’t find a stronger advocate for these creatures than yours truly. So imagine my dismay when the County Commission approved an Urban Wildlife Management Task Force to determine how to control the overpopulation of local deer.

I hated the idea from the jump. I knew that the likely outcome was going to be a mass killing, I mean culling, of my innocent little friends – and I was probably right. A decision hasn’t officially been made yet, I need to clarify that, but come on, we all know. So I started researching and thinking and asking a million questions to a million people desperately searching for another way. Any. Other. Way. Sadly … nothing.

Then, due to the task force spotlighting the issue, information started surfacing. I saw a barrage of pictures of the deer, not carefree, sweet, frollicking little creatures, but rather, they appeared emaciated and sickly. On two separate occasions in the past week I saw them dead in the middle of the road. One of them was near the same crosswalk I previously mentioned.

It’s truly heartbreaking. This was the turning point for me and I thought to myself, what’s more inhumane, culling them or forcing them to slowly rot away from disease, starvation, or predators? 

The task force meeting on Wednesday night only reinforced those facts. By trying to feed and protect and help them, we’re actually hurting them. These animals are dying whether we recognize it or not. But whether choosing whether they die a slow, painful death – or humanely – seems to be where we are.

I hate it, I really do. The overabundance of deer was honestly one of my favorite parts of living in Anaconda. So my goal for writing this article is for one reason: If you can think of any other way to save these fellas, and I mean absolutely any, please share that information with the board. 

Hey, you may have a completely unique solution that would work; who knows? And if not, maybe we need to embrace common sense. Maybe we need to look past the fairytale that we’re surrounded by healthy, thriving, happy little deer. And nobody wants to embrace that dream more than I do, trust me. 

Please submit your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to www.adlc.us/920/Urban-Wildlife-Management-Task-Force-Board.