PORT TOWNSEND — There is no deer census or official number about their presence, but many people in Port Townsend feel this year’s brood is healthier, more plentiful and bolder than in past years.
“There was a deer in the middle of my garden eating my flowers, and I went out and made some noise, but she didn’t move,” said Caroline Littlefield of North Beach.
“I ran at her, and she leaped over the fence and into the road but then looked me in the eye, still chewing the flowers.”
“We were driving down the road and came upon a deer,” said Food Co-op general manager Kenna Eaton, who is new to Port Townsend.
“He just looked at my husband, who was driving, and seemed to say, ‘Hey, dude, you’re in my road.’”
The plentiful deer — now more so because those born in the spring are maturing — are either part of what makes Port Townsend quaint and interesting or are a tremendous annoyance.
“I love the deer,” Littlefield said.
“There is one doe that comes to my house every year and gives birth in the same place.”
Shelly Randall of Port Townsend has a different viewpoint.
“I think of them as giant rodents,” she said.
“I would like to see them hunted down, with the venison then offered at the food bank.”
That isn’t likely to happen for two reasons.
The Port Townsend Food Bank distributes only food that is prepared in a safe kitchen, so venison would have had to have been prepared properly, said manager Shirley Moss.
Additionally, hunting is illegal within the city limit — and that isn’t likely to change, said City Manager David Timmons.
Timmons said the city won’t get involved in deer control unless there is a serious health hazard.
“The problem is, there are no natural predators,” Timmons said.
“There are no coyotes in the area, so there are a lot more deer and rabbits.”
Jefferson County Animal Control doesn’t get involved in deer management unless an animal is struck by a car and has to be removed or put down, said Bruce Turner, animal control officer.
“When I came to Port Townsend 20 years ago, deer were a rarity,” said Dawna Preston, a saleswoman at Henery’s Nursery.
“We were in a restaurant, and someone said they saw a buck outside, and everyone turned their heads.”
Preston said many local gardeners have a problem with deer eating valuable plants and “hears something about this every day.”
As a result, deer repellent is one of the store’s biggest items, one that needs to be restocked every week.
There is a commonly held belief that deer carry disease, originating from the ticks that jump off the deer and onto people.
This isn’t much of a threat, said Jefferson County public health nurse Lisa McKenzie, who cites Washington state data that report only a handful of locally originated cases of Lyme disease since 2005, none from Jefferson County.
Deer pose the greatest health risk to vegetable gardens because their feces carry virulent bacteria, so it becomes important to keep them away from home-grown food, officials said.
Preston doesn’t see this as an issue because it is easy enough to protect a garden with chemicals or a thorn hedge.
And deer prefer flowers, anyway, she said.
Some people feel they can communicate with the local deer.
Aaron Carver, who manages a small vegetable garden next to the Food Co-op, keeps the deer away through willpower.
“I meditate near the garden and put out that they should please not touch this garden,” Carver said.
“This has worked for years.”
The food grown in the garden goes to the food bank, supplying several pounds each week of the growing season.
Andrew Shoop of Port Hadlock is less hospitable, saying it is “ridiculous” to think of deer as friends.
In 2005, Shoop shot a 4-point buck with an arrow in Port Townsend and was convicted of unlawful hunting of big game two years later, after the four-point buck took a while to die, he said.
“They are like rats,” Shoop said. “There are millions of them.
“I think you should be able to bow-hunt on your own property.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.