DEER: When fines just aren't fine

Most of this letter is a repeat of one I submitted a couple of years ago, but it’s time for a reminder, I guess, now that Dalton’s residents are trying to pass an ordinance to fine people for feeding the deer. I agree with the letter written by Mike Reno (Sunday’s Press) that whether you feed them or not, they will always be there. I can imagine that if people didn’t feed the deer in the winter conditions we are experiencing now, we would find carcasses of starving deer in yards and streets.

I read in The Press that someone(s) wants to do away with the deer population in Dalton Gardens. Really? Because they’re eating your plants? Did you know there are deer-proof plants and flowers — dozens of them. I live right on the edge of Dalton and I for one LOVE the deer. Yes, they come into my yard too, 6 or 8 at a time, or only one or two. They have eaten a few tulips, which I have dug up and moved to the back yard. But they have not ever destroyed anything in my yard. I love to watch them. My husband and I ride our bikes up and down the streets in Dalton to see how many deer we can see. It’s such a treat in the spring and summer to see the newborn fawns. The neighborhood is certainly not “overrun” with deer. But deer have been residents of Dalton Gardens since before people have lived here. I’m quite sure that many of the deer who live in Dalton now have never been on Canfield Mountain. At the turn of the century (1800s -1900s) Dalton Gardens was mostly orchards and farms. There is still evidence of the orchards in Dalton yards where you will see 6-8 beautifully cared for trees in rows. The deer were probably very grateful for apples and pears that had dropped onto the ground.

There are ways to deal with the deer other than annihilating them, or running them out (they’ll just come back). Prop up your apple tree branches, plant the flowers they don’t like (you can find a list anywhere — Google it!), but don’t put up tall fences — they will try and jump them and be left dangling and suffering with a mangled leg.

Just enjoy them for the creatures they are. And be grateful they aren’t wild pigs or rattlesnakes, or something really destructive. And by the way, I have been a Coeur d’Alene resident since 1952 — I’m not new here! (Just in case anyone wonders).

JEANNE STONE HELSTROM

Coeur d’Alene/Dalton Gardens