Roanoke’s deer culling program aims to help resident’s yards

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)– Back in April, the Roanoke City Council approved a $40,000 budget to go towards its deer culling program. It’s planned to start in late fall to line up with the deer’s breeding season, but some residents would wish it started now.

This summer has been hot and dry, affecting the grass and leaves the animals would usually eat in the wild. Now, they are venturing into people’s yards and eating their crops and their flowers.

“This year for whatever reason has been a real challenge,” Jim Parkhurst, a wildlife conservation associate professor at Virginia Tech, and the state’s extension wildlife specialist, said. “Despite what I tell other people, I find it extremely frustrating myself this year in particular, because I’ve got fences in certain areas and I’ve been using repellents religiously, and I’m still getting clobbered.”

Experts recommend people invest in an eight-foot-high fence around their yards, as well as spraying their plants with deer repellent to keep them away.

However, during times like these, sometimes even that isn’t enough.

“It’s not going to cut their numbers, and they’re going to find a way to eat,” said George Noleff, WFXR’s outdoors expert. “That’s where the city steps in.”

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There currently aren’t specific details on how the city plans to use the money, or where they are focusing on, but more information is expected to be revealed as the date gets closer.

People normally don’t have to worry about the deer culling. Professionals will close off a certain area and keep all the action within the boundary.

“You’re talking about bringing marksmen in, and you’ll set boundaries off an area, say a park or something like that,” Noleff said. “They’ll set up and they’ll start to take deer out individually.”

These cullings will focus primarily on the female deer since they are the ones who breed new fawns.

Deer do reproduce quickly though, and it seems like they are birthing more offspring at a time.

“Most deer in good habitats are producing twins or sometimes triplets now, and the population has the capacity to double itself every year,” Parkhurst said. “These kinds of programs really are essential to trying to get a handle on and trying to get things back in balance.”

Last year, Roanoke’s deer culling program killed 251 deer in a densely populated area in the southwest quadrant of the city. This is the final year of the Virginia Department of Wildlife’s deer management plan.

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