During Tuesday’s City of Grand Rapids Public Safety Committee meeting data from the Department of Public Works indicates a steady year over year uptick in deer carcass removal dating back to 2019 when there were 129 carcass pickups. In 2021 there were 241, last year 301 and as of August 16th, 166. Over this same period of time, nuisance calls have been rising.
In 2020, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning’s reported Oakland County had the most motor vehicle-deer involved crashes with 1,854. Kent County was second with 1,712.
James Hurt is Grand Rapids Public Services Managing Director.
“We would look to collaborate with Kent County because I think this is a regional discussion in terms of the Health Department and Animal Control. If MDNR does come in and do an assessment, we would evaluate what the next steps would be.”
Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, U of M – Dearborn and Meridian Township have implemented Deer Management Programs collaborating with the DNR. Ann Arbor implanted a sterilization program in 2016 that Hurt described as time consuming and expensive. In 2020, the final year of the program, it turned to hunting and culling the herd.
