July 28, 2017 – West Bend, WI – There has been a push in West Bend in recent years to allow some sort of hunting in the city parks. The reason for this is that there are a LOT of deer. But the data has been hard to come by. Most of the commentary has been anecdotal by residents saying that they see a lot more deer. Earlier this week, the West Bend Common Council wisely tabled a proposal to allow some hunting and wanted to study the issue and come up with a more thoughtful plan.
Part of the reason was that the Mayor and Council were waiting for some data about deer/car collision trends in the city. That data is in. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow shared it:
In ’09 & ’10 we averaged 13.5 collisions per year
2011-2016 we AVERAGED 41 per year with a high mark in 2013 of 69.
WOW! Sadownikow offers this comment:
“I don’t think it is a coincidence the vehicle/deer collision numbers grew exponentially at the same time complaints from residents grew to the point they are today. We simply have more deer causing more damage to more vehicles and property today than we did 10 years ago. I don’t believe it is a matter of if we should do something, rather a matter of what to do. The Council, staff and I are committed to researching and then putting forth a reasonable, effective, safe program to help get this growing problem under control while maintaining a healthy wildlife population in West Bend.”
Board Member Mike Chevalier weighed in:
I second Kraig’s comments. My original request was for the counts that were 10, 15, and 20 years ago. The police department only had information going back to 2009. They are working with DOT to see if they have more information going back farther per my request.
All I can say is when I moved into my house over 16-years ago it was a wow factor to see one deer in one year. Today, the wow factor occurs when we do not see one deer in one day.
I’m looking forward to a deliberative process to find the best solution to this growing safety issue.
Side note: Owen Robinson is a local blogger at bootsandsabers.com which publishes Around the Bend every Saturday.
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