GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – One Green Bay city council member says he knows of at least five people dealing with tick-borne illnesses in one east side neighborhood he represents.
The city council will vote next week whether to have staff request special permits to hunt deer in that part of the city.
The area is north of East Town Mall and East Mason Street, mostly between Edison Middle School and Preble High School.
“It’s horrible,” said Paula Van Ert of Green Bay. “There’s herds of deer that roam through. Not singles or doubles or anything, there’s herds of deer that roam through, eating everything in their path.”
Van Ert has tried almost everything to keep deer out of her backyard and from eating her plants. Almost everything being the key.
“Well I know what would stop them, but it’s not legal.”
That could be changing if the city is able to get a permit from the Department of Natural Resources to take out some of the deer population. The city is considering contracting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bring in sharpshooters if the permit is granted. Only bow hunting would be allowed.
“I have no concerns,” said Van Ert. “You have to be so far from a house, you have to get your neighbor’s permission if you’re within 50 yards, you have to hunt from a high position shooting down towards the ground.”
“I was shocked how many calls I’ve gotten,” said Alderperson Bill Morgan.
Morgan says this issue has been the top complaint he’s received in 15 months as the area’s alderperson. The complaints started with deer eating plants but has turned into people dealing with painful and costly tick-borne illnesses.
“My neighbor got sick from something like that,” said Ryan Rivera, who lives in the area. “If it needs to be done, I think it’s something that should be done.”
“We just want to do it properly,” said Morgan. “We want to follow the laws of both the city of Green Bay and the DNR and the state and we want people to stay healthy.”
Morgan held a neighborhood meeting with the Preble Park Neighborhood Association recently. 35 people showed up and all but one was for thinning out the deer herd.
FOX 11 talked with a handful of people in the area off camera who are against the idea. They say they enjoy the deer and believe people could be doing more to prevent diseases from ticks.
“They love to see a cute deer or something come around, but it’s kind of a problem where we have to start worrying about the health of our citizens,” said Morgan.
If the city council gives approval and the necessary permits are secured, more information would be provided about who could participate in the hunt and the guidelines that would need to be followed.
City officials say West Bend has also contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for sharpshooters at an annual cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
The city is considering contingency funding to cover the cost.
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