PORT TOWNSEND — After years of uncertainty about the size of Port Townsend’s resident deer population, an improvised community group aims to count them.
The census will take place from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. April 2, with an organizational meeting planned for 7 p.m. this coming Wednesday in the Marine Science Center’s Natural History Exhibit at Fort Worden State Park.
“We’re just really curious. A lot of people say there are too many of them,” organizer Sue Lane said.
“But before we enter any conversation about management, we want to see how many are really here — or if it’s even an issue.”
The organizational meeting is meant to determine a different number: how many volunteers are interested in participating.
The group has divided the city into 13 small areas, viewable at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-deermap, and is looking to assemble teams for each one.
Lane said deer emerge to feed twice a day: at dawn and at dusk.
She said she chose the earlier feeding time because it appeared to present fewer organizational problems.
At the count, each team will systematically examine its area and note each deer, describing its size, what it is doing and where it is heading.
Data forms will be accepted immediately following the count at the Port Townsend Community Center, 620 Tyler St., with results and stories shared at a potluck at 5 p.m. at the Kitchen Shelter in Fort Worden.
The forms used in the count will be available on paper or online, making it possible for people to enter data on their phones.
Once assembled, the data can be used to quantify the population and determine what — or if — action needs to be taken, Long said.
Lane isn’t certain why so many deer are visible in Port Townsend, speculating that it has to do with a lack of predators and strict leash laws, which means they wouldn’t be chased by pet dogs.
“There are people who love them and feed them, while there are others with expensive gardens who curse them,” she said.
Prior to the count, participants will take educated guesses as to the size of the deer population, with the person closest to the actual number winning a prize.
This is not the place for people to air their opinions about what should be done about the deer, Lane said.
Instead, it is an experiment in citizen science and community engagement.
“The purpose is to build an event where people actually talk to each other and work together and not argue about what to do with the deer,” she said.
For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-deerinfo or email ptdeercount@gmail.com.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.