Deer chewing through gardens, dashing in front of cars and threatening neighborhood dogs are some of the major complaints of residents in communities wanting their government to get the animal's population under control.
Worthington took decisive action this year, hiring sharpshooters who killed 100 of Ohio's official state mammal over an eight-day period as part of its so-called "Deer Management" program. Now, Worthington is expanding its not-so-open season on deer to take place between dusk and midnight periodically on weekdays from December through February with an option to extend the time period to March.
The city also wants more private property owners to volunteer their land, allowing the gunmen to hunt.
The Worthington program limits U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters to public land and private land offered up by property owners. The meat from last year's kills, around 4,200 pounds, was donated to the Worthington Food Pantry.
Meanwhile in Columbus, the city is in its third month under a less violent, new ordinance that bans the feeding of deer. The Columbus City Attorney's Office confirmed no one has been cited under this ordinance.
Some in Clintonville, according to city-run surveys, want the city to do much more.
Clintonville Area Commissioner Mike Weinman, for one, said many residents appreciate the new no-feed ordinance, but they see Worthington's program and want Columbus to do more.
"We're grateful for that, but what we would really like to see is a full-time wildlife manager, and we would like to see them take the same steps that Worthington is taking," Weinman said.
Weinman said given Worthington's sharpshooting program, the deer may move south to avoid the danger. He said it may be more difficult for the animals to move north, because I-270 is a barrier.
"(The deer think) this is not a safe place anymore. So I'm going to go where it is safe. And that would be Clintonville," Weinman said.
Deer overpopulation in urban areas isn't new. The natural predators that would normally keep deer population in check, like wolves, aren't around to do so in cities.
Weinman lives next to one of Clintonville's scenic ravines, Overbrook, where you can often spot small herds of deer. He echoes what many residents of Worthington and Clintonville have said as both cities grappled with what to do.
"I used to live on a farm, and (deer) would be skittish. They would run away from humans," Weinman said. "The deer in Clintonville don't do that. They'll stand there and stare you down, start stomping their foot at you and snorting, and I've seen where they've charged after dogs. They don't have any fear."
Weinman said he hasn't seen many car crashes involving deer lately, but one that happened months ago left a deer injured. That deer, he said, limped around Clintonville for months and can still be spotted.
"In a natural environment, that he wouldn't have survived, you know, there would have been a natural predator to take care of that," Weinman said.
Weinman said he brought in a landscaper for his own property to do more than $1,000 worth of work. He said the work that was done lasted about two hours before he suspects deer chewed it "down to the dirt."
As a member of the Clintonville Area Commission, Weinman said the advisory body to Columbus city government can't do much but pass a resolution supporting more efforts to control the deer population.
Weinman said he admits that despite his opinions, there is rarely a consensus in Clintonville on what should be done. He would expect pushback no matter what Columbus decides to do.
