Marin County Island Considers Expense Deer Spaying Plan
BELVEDERE ISLAND (CBS SF) -- A fight is brewing in Marin County over whether to sterilize dozens of pesky deer running rampant on Belvedere Island.
Residents on the island complain that the animals eat the landscaping on their property and nothing scares them off.
But wildlife experts say sterilization is the wrong approach.
The herd of deer is estimated to have grown to about a hundred animals, a large group for such a small space.
"The deer are eating their flowers, their plants, their expensive vegetation and their landscaping," said Alison Hermance, Director of Communications for WildCare, an animal rescue group.
The deer are everywhere and have no fear of people or pets. Residents want to reduce that number, but not by declaring deer season open.
One suggestion is to surgically spay the deer, one at a time, at an estimated cost of $1,200 each.
Not surprisingly, WildCare isn't wild about the idea.
"If you are putting the animals under the unbelievable, considerable amount of stress that a surgery like this would involve, said Hermance. And then release them back into the wild, find out how many of them die of heart attack or other heart related conditions after the surgery."
Everyone is trying to do the right thing. It's surprising to see how much deer friendly habitat there is on the island. WildCare says there is another solution
"The only way to get rid of a nuisance wildlife situation is to eliminate what is attracting the animals," said Hermance.
That may be difficult on belvedere. Folks have started building serious fences, erecting anti-deer netting and even installing large gates across driveways to keep the deer out.
The deer have little or no fear of cars either. Several have been hit by vehicles.
One of the factors involving the size of this Deer herd here on Belvedere Island is that there are no predators, unless you consider the occasional Lexus or Range Rover a predator.
The deer proposals will be discussed at the next Belvedere City Council meeting on June 13.