Missoula’s Deer Problem: Petition Pushes City for Wildlife Management Plan

Missoula's urban deer population can be described as thriving, or it can be described as a nuisance. It all depends on where you live and how the deer are affecting your neighborhood.

There is a large population of deer in my neighborhood, specifically around my house. You can tell by the lack of vegetation in my yard. There are very few plants in my yard that have survived the deer. All of my shrubs have been eaten up to about six feet tall.

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My neighbors have built tall fences, or have put tinsel on their fences to try to deter the deer from getting into their yards. Most of my neighbors have dogs, but they haven't stopped the deer from entering their yards to feed. One neighbor's dog chased a deer out of their yard, the deer ran into a tree, broke its neck and had to be put down.

When I go to work early in the morning I am more concerned about hitting a deer on the road than getting into a wreck with another vehicle, because there are way more deer out early in the morning than there are vehicles.

Other cities in Montana, like Helena, have created ways to help control the urban deer population. Now there is a petition proposed for Missoula to do the same.

The Change.org petition, started by Jason Emery, is calling on Missoula's city leaders to start implementing a plan to control the urban deer population. So far the petition has thirty verified signatures.

One of the more tragic incidents involving a deer in my neighborhood was when a deer was struck by a car. The deer was hurt badly and bedded down behind one of our vehicles. A Missoula police officer had to put the deer down with a gun outside of our kitchen window.

I had the opportunity to speak with Jason about his petition, here is what he had to say:

I've spoken with the Bureau of Land Management and they've been petitioning the city for years to do something about it, but they don't have jurisdiction. 

Emery also speaks to the health of the animals.

I'm not advocating that we wipe them out, but we need to manage the population. It's an unhealthy population, is what I've been told. There's a lot of inbreeding...just like hunting in Montana, we need to manage the population so that they're healthy. 

With a smaller and healthier population, that is managed, it can cut down on a lot of the issues we are currently experiencing . Emery wanted to also mention,

The biggest thing that I was hoping for is just a humane active management of the deer, and I I feel like everyone should be able to get on board with that. 

 

If you would like to know more about the petition, you can find the information here.