Dublin Takes a New Approach to Deer Management

Seeing a deer wander through the backyard can be one of those “Aw, look!” moments. Seeing that same deer standing next to what used to be your hydrangeas? Maybe a slightly different reaction.

White-tailed deer are a familiar part of life in Central Ohio, but in Dublin, their growing population has become more than an occasional landscaping headache. After several years of research, community input and consultation with wildlife experts, the City of Dublin is moving forward with a deer management program designed to bring the population back into better balance with its environment.

Beginning this fall and winter, trained wildlife professionals from USDA Wildlife Services will conduct targeted deer removals, primarily on City-owned property.

And while the idea of removing deer may be difficult to hear, there's an important part of the conversation that can easily get lost:

Having too many deer isn't good for the deer, either.

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Why Can Fewer Deer Actually Be a Good Thing?

A healthy ecosystem can support only so much wildlife. When a deer population becomes too concentrated, the effects reach far beyond a few missing flowers.

Managing the population can help:

• Protect the deer themselves. Too many deer competing for limited food can lead to poor health and starvation.

• Give forests a chance to regenerate. Deer feed on seedlings and young growth. Heavy browsing can prevent young trees and native plants from ever reaching maturity.

• Protect other wildlife. When the forest understory disappears, birds, pollinators and other species lose important sources of food and habitat.

• Reduce deer-vehicle collisions. More deer moving through populated areas means more opportunities for dangerous encounters on the road.

• Reduce damage to native vegetation and landscapes. Yes, we're landscapers, so we have to mention this one. Replacing the same shrub three times because the neighborhood deer have added it to the dinner rotation isn't exactly ideal.

The goal isn't to eliminate deer from Dublin. There will still be deer in Dublin. The goal is to maintain a healthier number of them for the space and resources available.

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Why Not Just Move Them Somewhere Else?

It's a reasonable question, and one Dublin considered.

Relocating deer isn't an option in Ohio because of animal-welfare and disease concerns. Other non-lethal methods, including fertility control, have limitations and aren't considered practical for a community as large and open as Dublin.

Instead, the City's program will use trained and licensed USDA wildlife professionals. Operations will occur overnight, primarily on City-owned land, with locations selected based on deer density and public-safety considerations.

And the deer won't simply go to waste. Venison from the program will be donated to the Dublin Food Pantry.

Finding a Better Balance

Deer will, and should, remain part of the Central Ohio landscape. Dublin's program is about recognizing that even a native and much-loved animal can negatively affect its own health and the surrounding ecosystem when the population grows beyond what the environment can sustainably support.

Healthy landscapes are living systems, and sometimes caring for the whole system means making decisions that aren't particularly easy.

We can still enjoy spotting a deer wandering through the neighborhood.

We'd just prefer it wasn't wandering away with the landscaping.

Read more here: Deer Management Program – City of Dublin, Ohio, USA