Clearing of natural habitats and the overbuilding of more and more houses on small properties is causing a major wildlife problem in general. It also puts a strain on the aquifers that will haunt us in years to come without better planning.
Deer stay within 1 mi of their territory. There is now an abundance of new food sources for them, aka shrubs and flowers, in Woodside and other neighborhood landscaping. The does will keep having twins and triplets. They should only have 1 offspring in natural conditions.
A controlled hunt specifically targeting does, not the trophy bucks, shouldn’t require a change in code for all of Aiken City or Aiken County. The Council should be able to issue a special permit for selected hired sharpshooters or bow hunters for a specified period of time, only if requested by a specified area or Community.
We had controlled hunts in our town in allowed areas only in NJ. However many of those properties were larger estate areas. Our town worked with the State experts who had tried all of the alternatives for years, like birth control, catch and release to more rural area, etc.The only successes were controlled hunts.
We even had an annual hunt, by lottery and permit for 1 week in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The deer were eating so much underbrush, they were destroying the natural habitat for all of the small ground animals.
Too many deer can cause traffic fatalities, animal and human alike. Keep your eyes a little to the right side of the road, especially if you drive at dusk or dawn. You will have more time to react if a deer crosses from the left or driver’s side then if they pop out suddenly from the right side. If there is one deer crossing there will always be at least one more after it.
Congested housing causes the problem. We all moved to this area, now we have to deal with any issues we caused.
For everyone who is concerned, go to a City or County Council meeting, express your concerns but make realistic recommendations on how to solve the problem.
Encourage the City and County Council to do better 5 and 10 year plans before allowing so much overbuilding. Planning needs to include impacts to roads, water supply schools, greenways for runoff and impact to wildlife.
As you can see with wildlife it’s a two way street; Bambi impacts us as much as we impact Bambi.
