Syracuse killed 137 deer in city neighborhoods between January and March as part of its tick and deer management plan.
That’s the second largest tally since the program began in 2019, when U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters killed 159 deer.
All meat from culled deer is processed and donated to the Food Bank of Central New York. To date, the city has given 16,500 pounds of venison, equivalent to 60,000 meals, according to the mayor’s office.
The city will provide an update on the tick and deer plan to the Common Council at 11 a.m. Monday in City Hall.
The update will cover the most recent deer removal results, as well as plans for the 2025-26 program. The public can comment.
The numbers of deer killed are up in part to new state law that reduced the setback for sharpshooters. Shooters can be 250 feet from a residence instead of 500, with permission from property owners. That allowed sharpshooters to operate on properties that were inaccessible before.
Last year the city debuted a new “trap and euthanize” method to remove deer in some Eastside neighborhoods where sharpshooters can’t work.
That method uses a trap to hold deer until a USDA wildlife manager arrives to euthanize it with a captive bolt gun.
The city’s deer culling efforts are concentrated in three urban quadrants. The Southeast quadrant, which comprises Eastside neighborhoods, has the highest deer densities, with around 15 deer per square mile. The Southwest and the Northwest quadrants also have significant deer populations.
Other local municipalities, including Camillus, Solvay, Dewitt, Fayetteville and Manlius, have their own deer management programs.
The program aims at reducing the number of vehicle and deer collisions, preventing destruction of green spaces by grazing deer, and decreasing the prevalence of tick-born illnesses such as Lyme disease.
The city doesn’t set a target number for the annual cull. Rather, the program’s goal is to reduce deer populations in neighborhoods where they’ve become a problem.
Ten resident diarists keep track of deer in their neighborhoods to help the city determine whether or not culling efforts are effective.
Want to become a city deer diarist? Contact the Office of the Mayor by email at mayor@syr.gov or by calling Cityline at (315) 448-CITY(2489).
Property owners who have a property they want to be considered for deer management activities can contact the Parks Department by phone at (315) 473-4330 or by email at parks@syrgov.net.
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