The deer of Bloomington must die

Let me start by saying I’m a vegetarian. I just want to make it very clear that I like animals.

That being said, some of the deer in and around Bloomington need to die.

You seen them boldly wandering through off-campus neighborhoods and munching on our trash. While they’re not technically overpopulated in the southeast area of Bloomington, they are overpopulated in Griffy Woods. The deer there have already damaged the local ecosystem by overgrazing and stripping the area of tree saplings. Although we may not see the deer, they’re there, and they’re doing damage.

When deer numbers bloom like this, the ecosystem containing them is pushed beyond its carrying capacity. Other animals’ numbers decline, and many deer starve to death in the intense competition to resources. While allowing for starvation could hypothetically solve the deer problem, their search for resources will also send them further into urban areas. This is unnecessarily cruel, and in urban areas they have already reached, as a recent report by the Bloomington City Council’s Deer Task Force calls it, “social carrying capacity.”

If we don’t start killing the deer, they’ll start causing even more damage in southeast Bloomington, where they’re already giving some residents headaches.
Personally, I don’t consider deer a nuisance. I like seeing them scampering across lawns in my neighborhood. But, I also realize that such a lifestyle is not sustainable for these wild animals. They’re meant to roam the forest, not to scrounge for leftovers in our backyards.

The city council met Wednesday to discuss the recommendations of the Deer Task Force. Some of IU’s scientists contributed research and advice supporting the need to cull the deer population, especially in the Griffy Woods area.

And because I love the deer, I fully agree. I think we should kill some of them.
Aside from the obvious nostalgic Bambi associations we all have, I really do think they’re beautiful, graceful creatures. But some of them need to die.

Call it harvesting, culling, euthanizing or whatever you will, but we must face the fact that we’ve eliminated almost all of their natural predators, and now predation must fall to us. Consider it our duty as stewards to our ecosystem. We’ve upset the balance, and we must correct it.

I’m at a loss for a good solution for the urban deer population, but for the deer in Griffy Woods, I side with the recommendations of the Deer Task Force. Some deer must be shot. Relocation and clover traps are unnecessarily distressing to the animal, which will usually die anyway. Fences and public education are all well and good, but they don’t kill deer. Killing them cleanly is the humane thing to do.

And although I don’t want to be the one holding the rifle, even I, lover of cuddly creatures, must set aside my squeamishness and sensitivity.

For the good of the entire ecosystem, let’s take some of these deer out. This vegetarian supports killing a few animals.

­— kelfritz@indiana.edu