Martin’s Landing split over growing deer population

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

ROSWELL, Ga. — On a sunny afternoon in Martin’s Landing, 87-year-old Marlene Fellows watches a herd of deer eat the few remaining plants in her backyard.

Fellows, a longtime resident of the 1,030-acre neighborhood in historic Roswell, has spent the past few years trying to prevent deer from settling on her property.

Martin’s Landing bills itself as “teeming with nature and wildlife,” with a 52 acre lake and numerous walking trails.

As the neighborhood has grown, the deer have spread out to residences and backyards where they eat, rest, give birth and leave droppings. Fellows said the deer have “ruined” her backyard.

She can’t remember exactly when the deer became a problem, but she recalled the first time she saw one on her property.

“I can remember one Christmas when my husband was alive, we saw a deer in the yard,” Fellows said. “We were excited, because there was a deer for Christmas.”

Now all she can see is the creatures who decimated her garden. Fellows, an avid gardener, has photo albums of all the flowers and vegetables she used to grow. Every plant has been eaten or destroyed by deer.

The last thing Fellows planted was a bed of perennials, hoping to see them flower year after year. She knew gardening would grow too difficult as she got older.

“They ate them all, they ruined them,” Fellows said.

Frustrated, Fellows reached out to her homeowner’s association for help. She said she was told a 10-foot fence might help. Some of her neighbors have built high fences, and it seems to have worked.

“If I tried to put up a fence, I’d have to do a survey and a whole big folderol,” Fellows said. “I’m not going to make that expense at my age.”

Fellows tried deer repellant and installing plants deer may avoid. Nothing has worked, and the deer population keeps growing.

Her neighbors have experienced similar issues with the deer. Suzie Malone, a Martin’s Landing resident, said the deer have “eaten everything” she’s grown.

“I’ve gotten over it,” Malone said. “I’m going to try to plant things they won’t eat.”

Malone said she would like to see the deer population reduced, though. Fellows wants the same.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Kara Nitschke said deer are a common issue in neighborhoods across Georgia, specifically in Metro Atlanta.

“There’s big developments with a lot of pretty landscaping, and people spend a lot of time and money on their yard,” Nitschke said.

The biologist called the neighborhoods a “buffet for deer,” especially as development replaces the natural habitat with hardscapes and pushes the animals into residential areas.

Nitschke said there is no easy answer to address the issue. She encouraged bow hunting as an option during deer season in Georgia, which runs from Sept. 10 to Oct. 22.

Georgia law allows bow hunting in residential areas with permission from the property owner, and Roswell allows deer hunting with a permit. In subdivisions like Martin’s Landing, the rules get more complicated.

The neighborhood’s community guidelines explicitly ban hunting of any sort. While residents could attempt to hunt on their private property under state law, the homeowner’s association could fine anyone who breaks community guidelines.

Fellows said she “wishes they would” hunt, but she understands the hesitancy to allow hunting in a residential area.

Nitschke said the other option is lethal removal, which agencies often do in residential areas.

“Lethal removal makes the most sense,” Nitschke said. “They donate the meat to charity, so it’s a win-win.”

Typically, Nitschke said the homeowner’s association would have to decide whether to have the deer population thinned through lethal means.

That could be controversial, though.

While some residents are frustrated with the deer, others enjoy having them around.

“Some people in the neighborhood feed them and like them,” Malone said.

Residents have indicated in social media posts they like the deer, overpopulation aside. Fellows even says the deer are cute.

Nitschke said the issue comes down to attitudes around the deer, because the animals have found islands of resources in the more urban landscape.

“Environmentally, there’s plenty of resources for the deer, but culturally the carrying capacity is much lower,” Nitschke said.