Translating loosely to “beautiful peninsula” in a long-lost Polynesian language, the town of Tega Cay, South Carolina is home to a host of outdoor recreation activities, including beautiful golf courses, lakeside amenities and a whole lot of deer.
With under 15,000 residents, officials believe there to be more than 1,000 deer residing within a three-and-a-half mile area within city limits. As residents claim to host crowds of 20-30 deer at a time in their yards, the novelty of having them around is beginning to wear off as daily vehicle-deer collisions have become a daily occurrence.
As with many small towns looking for ways to manage budding deer populations, the idea of some sort of birth control was previously floated by community members. While it might sound like a utopian idea, the truth is these experiments are wrought with massive monetary investments and low success rates.
Bringing themselves back to reality, city council members finally voted on the idea of a controlled cull at the hands of skilled sharpshooters. With only one council member in opposition to the proposal, it passed with flying colors. Originally authorized to cull 80 deer, the approval came back last week with nearly double that number and a price tag of about $94,000.
The site of the cull is set for the Tega Cay Golf Club where a sharpshooter will use a variety of techniques and a silencer to quickly dispatch the deer as humanely as possible. As questions began to bubble up from within the community as to how the meat will be utilized, it looks as though the local food bank will have more than enough to go around.
While officials have stated that they might revisit the idea of using darts containing a sterilizing compound, for now, traditional culling will have to do.
