Survey to seek citizen response on deer overpopulation issues Panel to weigh options, including controlled hunts

Birth control? Hunting? Import predators? Do nothing?

The Howard County Deer Management Task Force will pose these and other deer control options in a survey expected to be mailed to more than 7,000 residents by the end of next month.

The surveys will go to a sampling of county landowners, including many living in rural areas or near large parks, said task force member William A. Thies Jr. The questionnaires will be used to assess the severity of the deer problem. Residents likely will be asked whether deer have eaten their landscaping, if the residents have ever hit deer with their cars and how often they see dead deer on the roadside.

Last month, task force member Aelred Geis proposed controlled PTC deer hunts for the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area, a deer hot spot in western Columbia. Controlled hunts are one of about 10 options the panel has discussed.

Thies said the task force plans to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of the options by the end of the year.

Maryland's deer population -- an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 -- has more than doubled in the past five years, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

No estimates of Howard's deer population are available, but state officials say more than 300 deer are hit each year by cars in the county.

Pub Date: 7/18/97