Loyce Fandrei has a problem with “squatters” in the back yard of her Highland home, and she’s officially at her wit’s end.
The photogenic nature of deer doesn’t matter to Fandrei as they slumber beneath her bushes in the early morning light. Considering they spent much of the previous night dining on her bushes, the sight of peaceful sleeping animals provides little comfort compared with the damage they cause, she said.
The situation has gotten so bad, Fandrei, 62, has literally called in the big guns. The former Biology teacher has asked the Town of Highland to enlist the Indiana Department of Natural Resource in coordinating a deer cull.
Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin presented Fandrei’s letter during a recent study session. A Highland resident since 1977, Fandrei described her home in “a peaceful community where I can tend to my various gardens and enjoy the flowers they produce.”
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That is, until about 10 years ago, when the deer started migrating out of Hoosier Prairie, which borders Highland and the lakeside subdivision where Fandrei lives, Schererville and Griffith. They found their way to Fandrei’s smorgasbord, she said.
“This year, we’ve just had a mom of two, but last year, we had herd of seven of them,” Fandrei said. “The last five years, I’ve just gritted my teeth. My (bushes), they’ve eaten straight across, and I haven’t seen my trout lilies in years. I bought 90 tulips one year – Darwins, and they were beautiful the first year. Now, they just stopped growing.”
Fandrei said the deer even get into her birdhouses to lick the seeds out, forcing her to bring the feeders in every night. And when there’s no snow, the deer droppings are a sight to behold.
Fandrei said she talked to Councilman Konnie Kuiper about the problem a couple years ago, and while he sympathized, he didn’t think he or the town could help. And anything anyone’s suggested, she’s tried before; repellent sprays seem to be nectar to the deer, and the repellent sticks she planted in her yard this winter likely didn’t activate before the cold, so they did nothing.
With few to no natural predators for nature to take its course, Fandrei decided to take matters into her own hands and forward to the council a message she received from the INDR about its deer culling program.
“I’m not confrontational, but I’m so tired of them taking everything,” Fandrei said of the deer. “My enjoyment is my ‘yarden,’ but when I see nothing but stems, why have I spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to plant?
“And I know I can’t be the only one.”
Turns out she’s not, as Griffin, who lives a house over from Fandrei near Warren Elementary School neighborhood, has seen the deer munching in his yard.
“Oh yeah, I see them all the time,” Griffin said. “They start off near the school, and then they make their way to the clearing we have behind our houses.”
The IDNR program, called the Community Hunting Access Program and announced in early January, provides financial and technical assistance to municipalities wishing to harvest the excess deer, according to Josh Griffin, a wildlife biologist with the DNR. Communities would work with a coordinator to pinpoint where the harvest would occur and who would be able to participate.
The community could choose to use local hunters, or it could opt for “sharpshooters” licensed by the DNR, Griffin said. Currently, he said there are nine active CHAP programs – one does it during a prescribed hunting season, four using specially licensed hunters and four using sharpshooters.
The council at the study session opted to pass the information along to the Highland Police Department; Highland Commander George Georgeff did contact Fandrei a couple weeks ago to discuss some options, Fandrei said.
It appears the department has other ideas besides a harvest, however, Georgeff said.
“We want to hear her ideas, but we’re not sure (a harvest) would be needed,” Georgeff said. “One alternative might be to hook up a sprinkler that shoots timed water at the deer to scare them off; another might be a fence to keep them out.
“She’s the only person we’ve heard from, so we want to discuss it further with the council.”
Fandrei said she’s heard about the sprinkler system but wonders how it would work in the winter, when it’s frozen outside. Nevertheless, she’s glad someone’s listening.
“(The council) is interested, and that’s good. I’m kind of excited to find out what we’re going to end up doing,” she said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.