Post by Woody Williams on Dec 7, 2007 19:18:56 GMT -5
Fort Thomas (KY, I believe) council bans feeding deer
Anyone feeding Bambi, or even Rudolph, in Fort Thomas could end up paying a hefty fine.
The City Council voted Monday to make it illegal to intentionally feed deer in the city, including putting out salt licks, corn, table scraps, hay or alfalfa, fruit, vegetables, wheat, pelleted livestock feed or any other edible matter.
The fine is $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense. Live plants and landscaping materials, often high on a deer's menu, are not considered feeding the deer.
The feeding ban is a first step to curb the rapidly growing deer population that city staff say is endangering lives and property in the city. By the end of the year, hunters could be allowed to shoot the deer with bows and arrows.
Deer in the roadway are causing a growing number of auto accidents and are causing property damage as they forage in backyards. The city's Web site warns that deer can attack humans, often when protecting their young or in mating season.
The next step is killing the deer. The city council also held a first reading on an ordinance to allow people to hunt deer with bows and arrows, including cross bows, during deer season - September through most of January.
Hunters would have to obey safety guidelines the city created with the help of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The guidelines:
Structures, sidewalks, roads or railroad tracks must be 200 feet from the hunter in the direction the hunter is aiming.
The hunter must be at least 50 feet from structures, sidewalks or roads on either side when shooting.
The target must be within 35 yards of the hunter.
The hunter must either own the property or have the owner's permission to hunt on a piece of private property.
Any blood and entrails of the deer must be placed in a container and removed from the city.
The proposed ordinance also makes it illegal for an arrow to land on property without that property owner's permission.
If the ordinance passes, it would expire in January 2011, giving bow hunters a four-year window of hunting. The council could then choose to continue it, amend it or let it die.
Council could vote on the hunting ordinance at its Dec. 17 meeting.
The action is part of the city's Urban Deer Management Program, which also includes public education on protecting property and defensive driving.
Between January 2003 and December 2006, there were 47 deer-vehicle collisions in the city. Officials say they also are worried that the deer could spread disease.
Fort Thomas is not the only area community allowing residents to help cull the deer population. Indian Hill, north of Cincinnati, has a bow-and-arrow hunting program, also implemented after the number of deer-vehicle collisions escalated.
Fort Thomas had earlier proposed an ordinance that would allow a limited number of city police and city-approved hunters to use small caliber guns or bows to kill deer, and the city would have set up feeding stations to lure the deer to be shot.
Residents spoke out in a public hearing opposing using city money to kill deer and calling the feeding station idea cruel.
Anyone feeding Bambi, or even Rudolph, in Fort Thomas could end up paying a hefty fine.
The City Council voted Monday to make it illegal to intentionally feed deer in the city, including putting out salt licks, corn, table scraps, hay or alfalfa, fruit, vegetables, wheat, pelleted livestock feed or any other edible matter.
The fine is $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for a third offense. Live plants and landscaping materials, often high on a deer's menu, are not considered feeding the deer.
The feeding ban is a first step to curb the rapidly growing deer population that city staff say is endangering lives and property in the city. By the end of the year, hunters could be allowed to shoot the deer with bows and arrows.
Deer in the roadway are causing a growing number of auto accidents and are causing property damage as they forage in backyards. The city's Web site warns that deer can attack humans, often when protecting their young or in mating season.
The next step is killing the deer. The city council also held a first reading on an ordinance to allow people to hunt deer with bows and arrows, including cross bows, during deer season - September through most of January.
Hunters would have to obey safety guidelines the city created with the help of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The guidelines:
Structures, sidewalks, roads or railroad tracks must be 200 feet from the hunter in the direction the hunter is aiming.
The hunter must be at least 50 feet from structures, sidewalks or roads on either side when shooting.
The target must be within 35 yards of the hunter.
The hunter must either own the property or have the owner's permission to hunt on a piece of private property.
Any blood and entrails of the deer must be placed in a container and removed from the city.
The proposed ordinance also makes it illegal for an arrow to land on property without that property owner's permission.
If the ordinance passes, it would expire in January 2011, giving bow hunters a four-year window of hunting. The council could then choose to continue it, amend it or let it die.
Council could vote on the hunting ordinance at its Dec. 17 meeting.
The action is part of the city's Urban Deer Management Program, which also includes public education on protecting property and defensive driving.
Between January 2003 and December 2006, there were 47 deer-vehicle collisions in the city. Officials say they also are worried that the deer could spread disease.
Fort Thomas is not the only area community allowing residents to help cull the deer population. Indian Hill, north of Cincinnati, has a bow-and-arrow hunting program, also implemented after the number of deer-vehicle collisions escalated.
Fort Thomas had earlier proposed an ordinance that would allow a limited number of city police and city-approved hunters to use small caliber guns or bows to kill deer, and the city would have set up feeding stations to lure the deer to be shot.
Residents spoke out in a public hearing opposing using city money to kill deer and calling the feeding station idea cruel.
