Urban Deer Population Remains Stable
Written by Andrew-Rossi on December 26, 2017
The Cody City Council last week began considering what actions, if any, to take regarding the urban deer population.
At a Council workshop last week, Cody Police Chief Chuck Baker updated the Council on the results of the Police Department’s attempt to cull the deer population last year, in response to the numbers of incidents involving wildlife and vehicles within the city limits.
The Game and Fish Department counted the number of deer in town last month, and found that the number of deer had only declined by 16 compared to last year – their estimates show that there are approximately 242 deer in the town herd, as compared to 258 last year. And that’s after the Police Department, through a special permit from Game and Fish, killed 51 deer in February.
According to Cody City Administrator Barry Cook, the Council now has to decide whether the expense of the culling process is justifiable, considering how little impact the project had this year.
Cook adds that the total calls for service regarding deer incidents did decrease from 118 in 2016 to 93 this year, with only three fewer motor vehicle crashes.
He says that the Council will consider the matter again during its workshop at 4:15 p.m. on January 9th.
