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By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings July 21. 2015 8:53PM Aggressive deer encounters prompt city forum Since numerous reports of encounters with aggressive deer have been made recently to the city, the city will “host a community conversation about this subject,” Ashland Mayor John Stromberg announced at the City Council meeting Tuesday night. It’s a “serious subject,” Stromberg said. The meeting, for which a date has yet to be set, will be about “aggressive deer and what can be done about them.” Stromberg hopes it can be televised. In the meantime, “the city will extend posting of warning signs from Gresham Street,” where signs currently are posted warning walkers to be on the lookout for aggressive deer, to other areas, and will also keep records of such reports, Stromberg added. The announcement was well received by five public speakers who came to the meeting prepared to ask for the city to take some action about ongoing encounters that have frightened and, in some instances, injured residents. “I’m very pleased you’re taking a step,” said Ann Barton, who was with her daughter when a deer made several charges towards them which they fended off by wielding a nearby trash can as a shield. The city should work with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and research what other cities with high deer populations, such as Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., are doing about it, she said. Barton said possible steps include contraception and “culling as a way to rebalance nature.” Sandra Pastorius told councilors about an attack on her at her Terrace Street home last September that left with shattered bones in her foot and a large gash in her thigh that required two months of treatment at a wound center. The deer that attacked her “had one hoof on my foot, another on my thigh,” she said. She warned people deer that feel trapped by buildings can strike out aggressively. The situation has gotten worse through the years, said Selene Aitken. She’s lived in Ashland, currently on Helman Street, since 1986 and “hardly saw (deer) for the first 15 years,” she said. “Just the other day I had a young buck come up. It wasn’t going away. It was aggressive. I support a task force. Action, that’s what I’m asking for, to protect our citizens.” Reach Daily Tidings Editor Bert Etling at [email protected] or 541-631-1313. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/betling. http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20150721/NEWS/150729933 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->