OKEMOS, MI — Meridian Township’s Deer Management Program will move into the “police cull” phase of management, according to a press release. The goal is to cull approximately 140 deer by the end of February.
Meridian Township police officers will conduct the cull in select parks, land preserves, and on private property where consent has been provided during January and February. Officers will use firearms to perform the deer cull during the evening and overnight hours when parks are closed, the township says. The cull will be conducted at pre-selected sites due to their suitability for a safe, controlled cull of the deer herd. During the cull, parks will remain open from dawn to dusk, and signs have been posted to notify the public.
The Township’s Deer Management Program was launched in 2011 to address persistently high numbers of car-deer collisions and ongoing vegetation destruction in parks, preserves, and residential neighborhoods. Since the program’s implementation, reported car-deer accidents in Meridian Township have dropped by 49%, the township says…