National Park Service to Take Action Against Encroaching Deer Herds in Washington, D.C.
Mike Bolton 02.29.12
Many Americans believe that those in Washington just don’t understand the problems many of us face. Well, it’s obvious that they understand at least one.
The National Parks Service has announced that it will bring in sharpshooters in the nation’s capital in an attempt to slow down the deer population explosion in Washington and its suburbs.
In typical Washington fashion, the Park Service says it has spent years studying the problem. Its conclusion is the same conclusion that hundreds of other municipalities and thousands of landowners have found in the past decade: the only feasible way to cull the herd is with sharpshooters.
The white-tailed deer that have overrun Rock Creek Park in Washington long ago began venturing out in suburban neighborhoods and dining on shrubbery, gardens and lawns. Dozens have been killed and injured in collisions with automobiles. In 2009, much to the horror of onlookers, a deer found its way into the lion’s enclosure in the National Zoo in Washington, the New York Times reports.
No date has been set for sharpshooters to begin taking deer from the park. The deer will be taken at night away from neighborhoods, Park Service officials say.
Mike Bolton, 56, served as the outdoors writer for the Birmingham News for 25 years until his retirement in 2009. He won the AP Sweepstakes Award for best sports story in Alabama on eight occasions and his stories on the Cahaba River were nominated for a Pulitizer Prize. He has also contributed to Sporting Classics, Bassmaster Magazine, Buckmasters Magazine and other national pubications.
