It’s the 12-point buck in Fredonia’s china shop: the huge population of deer in the village. Trustees discussed it last week, as they do every couple of years or so.

Paul Wandel sought to talk about the issue at a Board of Trustees workshop. “There are a lot of them. There are a LOT of them,” said Ben Brauchler of the deer.

“Just this morning at the school drop-off, there were three of them wandering the Wheelock parking lot,” Nicole Siracuse said.

“This was an issue I brought up a couple years ago – unpopularly, as it turned out,” pointed out Jon Espersen. Indeed, trustees dropped it after an outcry at the notion of shooting or poisoning the deer.

“When I received a couple suggestions (about) what we might do, it did not go over exceedingly well with the population,” Espersen said. “But I don’t think the problem’s gotten any better, I think at this point it’s gotten worse.”

He suggested, “I think at this point, we need to contact the DEC (state Department of Environmental Conservation) and see what our options are.” The trustees sounded agreeable to that.

“I still have the contact information for the Arkansas bowhunters’ association who volunteered to help us take care of that,” Espersen offered.

Michelle Twichell said, “Well, the problem is if they shoot them with a bow and arrow and they run into someone’s property.”

Siracuse noted “there are places within the village that bow hunting is permissible and possible.”

Mayor Michael Ferguson spoke of a community that harvested arrow-shot deer meat and provided it to food banks.

“But yeah, that’s probably one of the top complaints we get, is deer,” the mayor said.

“I had to stop on Center Street for a herd. It was a herd!” Brauchler said.

Ferguson concluded the discussion — for now — by noting that upcoming projects such as solar energy farms and the new Brooks-TLC Hospital could drive more deer into residential areas.