OverHERD complaints

STAUNTON — They ate everything but her cabbage.

So Evelyn “Beanie” Thomas, 88, of Staunton, took her deer problem “to the top floor” of City Hall.

“They just riddled my garden. They took everything I had,” Thomas said of the herd of about a dozen deer that has repeatedly ransacked the beets, beans, spinach and tomatoes of her Beverley Court growing patch.

“The only thing they didn’t eat was my cabbage, I don’t know why,” Thomas said.

Her call for help was among about 10 others heard by Jim Halasz, Staunton deputy city manager, who brought up deer management at an Oct. 23 City Council meeting. Officials pinpointed Springhill Road, West Beverley Street and the Big Sky Apartments as deer hot spots.

“There’s always been deer, but now we’re getting 12 or 13 deer up in the golf course and herds of deer in people’s backyards,” Halasz said. “If they’re eating in your backyard for a half-hour ... there’s a lot missing when they’re done.”

Following a council suggestion, Halasz spoke with state biologist David Kocka to whittle down options for deer control. Staunton could soon have an extended urban archery season or allowances for special high-powered rifle hunts. Unlike Roanoke, where officials recently relaunched a $30,000 program, Staunton will not hire an animal control specialist, Halasz said.

“One way I try to express it to cities and towns is: If you’re not dealing with [large deer populations] now, you will be dealing with it in the future,” Kocka said.

Statewide, about 20 cities and towns allow urban archery. A similar number allow more liberal hunting through a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries program.

Staunton officials would likely link special hunts to Hunters for the Hungry, which supplies food banks with venison, making for a “win-win situation,” Councilwoman Andrea Oakes said.

That part of the plan sits well with Thomas, who said she grew vegetables to feed those in need.

James Bowles, 78, has another idea.

“Trap ’em and send them to West Virginia,” said the 49-year Staunton resident. “I’ve never seen one in my yard until this year.”

Bowles said he couldn’t remember a similar problem — or the city willing to take action — since police cordoned off a city park to tackle a squirrel problem, with force, in the early ’60s.

“To make a long story short,” Bowles said of deer, “they ate up everything,” including a 6-foot weeping willow he recently planted.

“Seems like they like mums,” Bowles added.

Kocka said Staunton is ideal for deer, who prefer a “mixed environment” to pure woods. Deer can live 20 years and eat as much as 5 percent of their body weight every day.

“It’s a big machine that eats a lot, lives long, and they have a relatively high reproductive rate,” Kocka said.

Virginia remains one of the 10 most likely states to encounter deer while driving, according to State Farm, the nation’s largest auto insurer. Nationwide, crashes involving animals have increased 14.9 percent from five years ago. Statistics from the Virginia Department of Transportation show three deaths and more than 400 injuries because of cars crashing into deer last year.

Halasz said a deer management plan could be presented to the council early next year.

Except for dry times in August and September, Waynesboro has not received an increase in calls, City Manger Mike Hamp said.

Garden protection

Tips for keeping the deer out of your garden:

SOURCE: DEPT. OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES