City officials: Don’t feed the deer

Despite that doe-eyed look, Sioux Falls is saying, “No food for you.”

An ordinance that would make it illegal to feed deer in the city limits will get its first vetting Tuesday before the Sioux Falls City Council.

“Feeding them is a big no-no,” Council President Dean Karsky said.

The city is hearing complaints about a growing deer population in the southeast part of the city, and officials from the Sioux Falls Police Department are discussing whether to have trained officers kill a certain number of them.

There’s a number of problems that come with feeding deer, said Julie DeJong, wildlife manager for South Dakota Game Fish and Parks.

■ Deer will become dependent on an artificial food source. “It removes the wildness from them,” she said.

■ Luring a number of deer to one spot means they can spread disease amongst one another. There’s also danger in drawing them closer to people where they can have run-ins with vehicles, DeJong said.

■ Deer have trouble digesting some of the grains left out for them. DeJong said it takes a long time for their stomachs to build up the microbes to digest corn. If they eat wild food one day and corn the next, they can die, she said.

“We’ll have people that think they’re helping the deer when they’re actually doing them a disservice,” DeJong said.

Baiting deer is illegal during the hunting season, but that doesn’t apply within Sioux Falls city limits.

For the past three years, Sioux Falls has had an archery season for deer north of Rice Street. It will take place again this year from October through December.

“It’s proven to be really effective,” DeJong said.

Rice Street sees the most deer-vehicle collisions anywhere in East River South Dakota, she estimates.

To get a feel for how many deer live in the southeast part of town, Sioux Falls police officers have been heading out to city parks on ATVs after the sun goes down.

In two nights of spotting deer Sept. 23-24, officers counted 62 deer one night and 54 the next. That’s about 20 more deer than they saw when doing a count in early June.

Officers started at Pasley Park and followed the bike trail while taking jaunts through Tuthill and other parks, down to Tomar.

Another survey is planned for October and again in December.

Sgt. Paul Creviston said he’s expecting to see more deer then. Many move into the city during the snowy months, looking for food, he said.

The deer counts along with public input gathered through a survey and public meetings in the past month will help guide the department as it decides how to handle deer in city limits.

Deer count

June 4-5: About 30 to 40 deer per night

Sept. 22-23: About 50 to 60 deer per night

Online survey results

• 54 percent say deer population have increased

8 percent say population has decreased

• 58 percent support lethal removal of deer

35 percent oppose lethal removal

• 893 people responded to the online survey

Source: Sioux Falls Police Department