EAST LANSING, Mich. — To shoot or not to shoot? That's the question that has been the topic of discussion for the East Lansing City Council as they try to figure out how to control the city's deer population.
The council held a meeting Tuesday night, ultimately deciding to approve a motion to move forward with a deer management program after getting a ton of reaction from the community.
The decision comes after some people had mixed feelings about allowing the city to take lethal action to control the deer population in East Lansing with an annual deer cull.
The deer population has been a problem in East Lansing for seven years.
The original proposed program would use professional hunters from the United States Department of Agriculture to help control the deer population.
The deer problem was first brought to the council's attention back in 2011 when they put out a deer survey to the public. Over 200 people responded to that survey.
However, at Tuesday night's meeting, some people say there are other ways to control the deer population issues.
"Am I happy when I come out and I see my hostas mowed down and I see gouges in the birch trucks, no I'm not but I will tell you this, there are easy solutions you spray deer off in the autumn. You wrap your tender trunks and burlap the problem is solved," a community member at the meeting said.
"Just do it. It isn't a once and only time you have this cull. See how it works. If it turns out to be a bad idea, don't do another one," another community member said.
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