OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Southeast Michigan Urban Deer Coalition and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments launched a new survey Tuesday for Oakland County residents to share their experiences with the local deer population, as some municipalities consider expanding culling efforts.
Watch Ruta's story in the video player below:
Farmington, Farmington Hills and Southfield conducted their first regional deer cull earlier this year, removing 70 white-tailed deer using sharpshooters. More than 2,000 pounds of venison was donated to local food banks. The three cities are set for another round of culling this winter.
Other municipalities, like Beverly Hills and Livonia, are in active talks about joining future culling efforts.
Farmington Mayor Joe LaRussa said the survey is designed to shape how officials plan and carry out deer management going forward.
"We want to know exactly what people are experiencing and use that to inform the way we plan and execute things like this," LaRussa said. "The most important thing that residents can do is take part in the survey and tell us what's going on, we need that information to structure the engagement and the way we're going to take action."
The issue has drawn strong opinions on both sides. Longtime Farmington Hills resident Billy Slobin says deer have damaged his plants and landscaping, costing him thousands of dollars over the years. He said he has tried netting, hot sauce and soap to deter them, with little success.
"Frank's hot sauce and Irish springs soap and everything you could possibly imagine, none of it works," Slobin said.
Slobin said he supports the culling efforts.
“Very aggressive, and there’s no limit to how close they’ll come, and they will attack a dog," Slobin said. "I love animals and stuff, but there's too many of them."
Other residents, like Rohit Seshadri, are opposed to the practice for safety and ethical grounds.
"Safety wise and emotional wise, it's an ethical issue too as far as I'm concerned," Seshadri said. "This is not about the deer. This is about bringing urban hunting into our neighborhoods," Seshadri said.
Farmington Hills residents like Michelle Dimaria say they feel disappointed with the amount of push-back regarding the culling, and the fact that the practice is continuing in her city.
"Nobody wants people hunting or sharp shooting in their yards or by their homes, it's not safe, there's kids playing there, there's pets outside," Dimaria said. “They’ve proven that they don’t care about what people think."
Farmington Hills officials denied our request for an interview Tuesday.
The survey is open to Oakland County residents through Nov. 1 and can be found here.
_________________
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
