Tega Cay takes more steps to address deer overpopulation

TEGA CAY, S.C. — The city of Tega Cay is taking fresh steps to tackle a four-legged nuisance. They’ve been a nuisance for years, eating gardens and making driving dangerous, but the city says efforts to control the deer population seem to be working.

A few years back, it was pretty easy for Channel 9 South Carolina Reporter Tina Terry to spot a deer strolling through a neighborhood in Tega Cay.

On Tuesday, we didn’t spot even one.

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“We’re surrounded by critters of all kinds, and having the deer around was enjoyable for many residents,” Alicia Formato said.

Formato is one neighbor who enjoyed seeing the deer stroll through her neighborhood.

At their peak, an estimated 1,028 deer were in Tega Cay. This year, there are about 421, a near 60-percent decline.

“Culling is traumatic and divisive for our community. It can tear us apart. We can’t kill our way to success,” Formato said.

Monday night, Formato asked city council to put a pause to culling and to resume sterilization at the right time.

“They can give birth to twins and triplets in areas that are rich in resources. So when you just remove individuals with killing, you haven’t done anything to treat the doe next to her who is going to give birth to twins or triplets,” Formato said.

But council voted instead to continue culling at least 30 deer by use of a sharpshooter.

“This is a balance we have achieved and it has to be protected,” Tega Cay Mayor Carmen Miller said.

“Well, I think it’s probably the right thing to do. I’m an animal lover, but they’ve become a nuisance. And too many city councils ignored the situation over the years and we finally got to the point where we were inundated with them,” neighbor Chuck Butterworth said.

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