Oh, Deer--Iowa Has a Bambi Boom

On his third try, Paul Bowers finally built a fence that keeps deer from nibbling every last plant in his garden. But the 7-foot-high chicken-wire fence merely redirects the hungry horde to the rest of his yard.

The deer bed down for naps. They browse on shrubbery. They look at Bowers with their big Bambi eyes, then nibble off another tender green twig.

“I have a slingshot, and I use that to bean them,” Bowers said. “The only problem is, they’ve become so used to people, I can hit them three times before they finally even start to move away.”

A lack of predators and a bounty of food--trees, shrubs, flowers, garden vegetables--have caused the deer population to explode in this city of 59,000 people. Deer graze through neighborhoods, destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of plantings. They bound across roads and highways, posing risks to motorists.

Frustrated city officials are considering drastic means to reduce the deer population. Last winter, the city hired federal marksmen armed with silencer-equipped rifles to cull the herd, but the shooting was halted after animal-protection groups complained there had not been adequate time for public comment.

Now, facing an even bigger herd, officials are considering hiring sharpshooters again, or even allowing bowhunting within the city.

Helicopter counts by the state Department of Natural Resources recently tallied 869 deer in the Iowa City area, up 62% from 1997. Biologists say an urban area can support up to 30 deer per square mile, but in some parts of Iowa City, there are more than five times that number.

Police reported 15 car-deer accidents in 1996, 28 in 1997, 50 last year and 23 so far this year. No motorists have died, but Mayor Ernie Lehman said it’s only a matter of time. “I fully expect someone to get killed in an auto-deer accident sooner or later,” he said.

“We have created an environment that is so friendly to deer,” Lehman said. “They are protected because hunting is not allowed in city limits. They have all the food in the world. They have no natural predators. If I were a deer living in the country, I’d move to Iowa City.”

Bowers’ yard is typical of many in the area, shaded by huge ash and oak trees and landscaped with trimmed hedges, evergreens, flowers and mounds of hostas with wide, glossy leaves tempting to deer.

He has a second, smaller garden, also surrounded by a high fence to keep the deer out.

“It was kind of neat when we moved here 14 years ago and saw a deer in the yard,” he said. “At least it was kind of neat until we started realizing that they were eating everything. There’s many a night now that we count four or five. One night we counted 13. They’ve got to do something, they’ve just got to.”

Debate over how to reduce and manage the herd has divided this eastern Iowa community. Some say killing the deer is not the solution.

“There are other alternatives, such as educating the public on what kinds of plants deer don’t like to eat, or putting more reflectors up on roadways, that should be looked at,” said Shannon Nelson, a member of the University of Iowa Animal Rights Coalition.

Lehman retorted: “She talks about educating. You know, we’ve found that deer are very slow learners.”

Sharpshooting is the most effective way of reducing a herd, said Al Farris, fish and wildlife director with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He has approved bowhunting plans in the past for Dubuque, Des Moines, Marion and Waterloo-Cedar Falls.

“People are looking for the silver bullet, the easy way,” Farris said. “Let’s be honest. There is no easy way. You’ve got to kill some deer.”

Last January, sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service Division were dispatched to cull the herd.

The marksmen fitted silencers on their rifles and planned to shoot mostly at night to avoid disturbing neighbors. They intended to kill 240 deer, reducing their density to fewer than 35 per square mile. The venison was to be donated to the poor.

In two nights, the sharpshooters killed 22 deer. Then federal officials abruptly canceled the shoot after animal-rights activists complained that there hadn’t been enough public notice or environmental study.

To ensure that the shoot wasn’t resumed, the activists filed suit. Joining the university coalition in the suit were four national groups: the Animal Protection Institute, Friends of Animals, the Fund for Animals and the Humane Society of the United States.

On Feb. 12, a federal judge in Washington issued a temporary restraining order preventing USDA sharpshooters from participating in the city’s deer shoot.

Since then, a 13-member citizens committee has been meeting to figure out what to do this winter. Its conclusion: One way or another, the deer herd must be thinned.

“Our committee did decide unanimously that . . . killing needs to take place in order to manage the herd,” committee member Lisa Mollenhauer said. “We’re still going to have folks that don’t agree with killing deer, no matter how many accidents you have, no matter how much evidence you produce of the damage.”

Lehman said the City Council will likely opt for sharpshooting this winter, but it may hire a private company rather than endure the kind of legal entanglements that came with the federal government’s involvement.

Meanwhile, the deer keep munching, and residents keep arguing.

Bud Louis said deer destroyed more than $900 worth of evergreens around his home.

“I also put in an 800-foot row of arborvitae about three years ago, and there’s nothing left. They’re eaten right down to the ground,” he said. “I don’t like hurting animals. I don’t want any wounded. But I think some nights if I left my door open they’d join us at the supper table.”

Elijah McNeish, age 11, attends deer-management committee meetings and thinks the city should remain open to nonlethal methods and public education. Nonlethal controls could include sterilizing or relocating the animals.

“I think it’s just plain inhumane to kill the deer,” he said.