Deer roaming around the city limits have been a concern in Medical Lake for several years and the city is getting some outside help to aid in the matter.
At the April 1 City Council meeting, City Administrator Doug Ross said he has been in contact with the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding the deer concerns. Ross said the department would send a specialist to come to the city and conduct a deer count.
Ross said the first step is for DFW to come to Medical Lake, see what the extent of the deer population is, then determine and identify the nature and severity of the issue.
Candace Bennett, wildlife conflict specialist with the department has been in correspondence with Ross. She recently conducted an assessment in Medical Lake on deer number and age ratios. On one of her trips, she counted 15 deer in the city limits. Bennett has also collected information such as specific complaints and concerns from residents.
During her assessment, Bennett noticed that the deer were accustomed to human presence, less wary than deer found in the wild and were around open areas on the outer edges of the city. She said this is normal for a city like Medical Lake since there is a lot of suitable habitat around the area. Bennett added that if Medical Lake is identified as a safe harbor for deer, the population would continue to grow.
Bennett explained she and the city are in the beginning stages of this process. According to Bennett, a full survey of the deer population would require Fish and Wildlife to look at population and densities, which can change from month to month and season by season.
“This is a long term process that could take up to several years,” Bennett said.
Once Bennett has identified some of the issues, she said she will send suggestions to Ross to bring before the City Council, or come to one of the council meetings herself to present those options.
At previous City Council meetings, Ross and Mayor John Higgins said they have spoken with citizens who are concerned about the deer issue.
One of the factors has been citizens feeding deer. An ordinance that prohibited residents from feeding deer was brought to the City Council in December 2013. At the Feb. 18 meeting, the council turned it down with a 3-2 vote.
Medical Lake is not the only city in the state with deer issues. The city of Republic has spent $14,000 — raised from grants and donations — to hire a professional hunter to trap and relocate deer from the city limits.
Ross said the city has limited resources and cannot spend much time and energy on the deer solution, as there are other projects.
“If the experts tell us you have a problem and there are steps the city can take that don’t cost money to fix the problem, we can do that,” Ross said. “That’s one of the reasons why we asked the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to get some options.”
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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