Residents feeding deer causes issues, says North Ridgeville mayor

NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio - There is a problem in North Ridgeville that is very dear to its residents: it’s the group of deer that are running through residents’ backyards.

“Right now we just want people to stop feeding them,” said Mayor G. David Gillock. “We’re really concerned in the residential area, where residents are putting out food to bring the deer in and that creates a dangerous situation.”

The deer are also causing havoc on the roads. Gillock said there have been 38 accidents involving deer and motorists over the last year. Those numbers are up from previous years, according to the mayor.

More than 60 deer carcass have been picked up by city workers and those are just the ones that have been reported, according to Ward 4 City Councilman Bob Olesen.

“I understand that people think they are helping the deer when they feed them, but they are not,” Olesen said. He took NewsChannel5 to an area where we were able to videotape about six deer running around. It was clear the animals visited people’s yards since there were plenty of tracks in the snow.

“I mean they come in the yard, 15 or 20 at a time,” Robert Clark said “They stand here and they lick all the seed up until it’s bone dry.” Clark started using a spray on his bird cage that he said should keep the deer away.

Right now, a city ordinance is in the proposal stage. If one does go into effect, residents will be warned, and then fined about $25 if the problem continues.

Olesen said his wife hit two deer over the last 18 months. Gillock said that just the other day, he had to wait for 20 deer to cross while he sat in his car after lunch.

“If the heard continues to grow, we are going to have to look at other options. See what other cities have done,” Gillock said.