Ann Arbor's deer problem

[wolverine]

The other day I snapped some pictures on my phone of some deer walking around campus. This isn't the first time I've seen them. They've been wandering around the city, and especially on campus and one time I came very close to hitting one on Washtenaw. It may seem cool to have them around since they are a rarity in a city of 115K, but I'm actually quite worried that being in urban environment will cause more harm to them. For one thing, people don't expect to see them in Ann Arbor. Also keep in mind that alot of students that come to Michigan from other major cities in and outside the US aren't used to seeing them on the roads as well. I'm also concerned that they are too used to human contact. You can approach them up to five feet before they walk away. This could lead to over dependency on humans (much like the oversized squirrels on campus).

Normally, I'm not one to care so much about wild life. For all I care, some hunters could be hired to come in to control the problem. But I feel the adaption of future deer populations to urban environments, and the number of car accidents it will cause in the future are definitely not good things.

Has anyone else seen them walking around campus?

[tracer1138]

I've never seen any deer, but I have seen several Possums and of course all of the squirels, rabbits and the dogs that chase them.

There was a week in there somewhere where I saw numerous skunks in a short period of time. I was worried that it was an omen and avoided rustling bushes for a while.

[jbr12]

Theres a 'family' that live around the AA/Music School area on North Campus. When I was there a couple years ago we always saw them in the parking lot behind the AA building

[nofunk]

I saw five deer grazing at the side of Packard near Buhr Park one morning last week. They weren't even phased by morning rush hour traffic buzzing by at 40 mph.

I believe the city of Milwaukee a few years back hired hunters to go in and control the deer population in their city parks. I think there was serious pushback from residents, though, and I can only imagine that in a city like Ann Arbor the backlash would be even greater.