HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — The population in Hendersonville is growing and it's not only people. Just about everywhere residents turn, there are deer — lots of them — and not just at dusk and dawn.
For seven years, Ron Musial sat on his porch and watched the deer.
Musial, who is retired, said the peace and quiet are some reasons he left the city of Chicago to settle in Hendersonville.
At not even noon, dozens of deer were hanging around his Indian Lake Peninsula neighborhood and they do so every day.
"I do like the deer, and I wouldn't move from here because I have that kind of that natural zoo around me, you know? Once in awhile, I've seen the fox out here and other animals but man the deer are dominant here," Musial said.
However, alderman Steve Brown says it's becoming a dangerous issue.
"It's just got to the point it's a safety issue with so many accidents that we're going to have deer come through a windshield one of these days and hurt somebody pretty bad," said Brown.
For now more than a year, Brown said it's a pricey problem for drivers.
"We've had 161 automobile crashes that have been reported to the police department in 2021 in the first six months of 2022. And the average, according to AAA insurance folks, is up to about $5,100 per vehicle to repair. That's well over $800,000."
Brown says the city alone received a bill of more than $63,000 to remove dead deer from all of 2021 to the first six months of 2022.
From crashes, car repairs and police involvement, Brown says it's adding up to close to $1 million.
"We’re at the point that we've got deer that we like, but we've got too many I'm sure we've got to figure out something to do for the folks in the community," said Brown.
You can only hunt deer in Hendersonville using bow and arrow and that's with a permit. Guns are not allowed to be fired off in the city.
Hendersonville has a deer monitoring committee that is working to make recommendations to control the deer population.
