It has been an issue for people all across Southwest Virginia: deer overpopulation.
Due to less available habitat, deer have begun boldly walking around urban areas and eating plants that people have grown.
Stores like One Earth Landscapes and Mulch have customers who come in to ask them about deer issues and how to deal with them.
“Yeah, we’ll get calls to come out and I’ll go look and it’s like they’ve eaten the top layer of everything,” owner Tony Wirt said.
Wirt has had his own encounters with deer.
“They come into the yard, they drink the water out of the bowls, and then there’s food for them. So then they just hang out in the yard and lay down,” Wirt said. “By morning they’re gone, you know, because they’re usually up dust to dawn. Those are the hours that they’re most active, it seems like.”
In some areas, deer have become a part of many neighborhoods.
10 News turned to Justin Folk - the Deer Project Leader with the Department of Wildlife Resources - to find out why the population has grown so high.
“There’s often times, there’s less predation, definitely from natural predators,” Folk said. “Hunting is often times a little bit more difficult.”
They’re not just a backyard nuisance either. Deer are showing up on roads, and that creates real danger.
“The number one source of deer mortality in those areas are deer vehicle collisions,” Folks said. “So it’s an increased risk for sure, but motorists just need to be aware and slow down and just be aware for it and be on the lookout for deer on roadsides.”
As far as keeping deer out of your yard, there are solutions like repellents and plants they may not eat.
You can also try protecting the plants.
“I think no matter what, putting up some sort of fencing around plants that you don’t want deer to eat is going to be the most effective kind of short-term solution,” Folks said.