ByKristen Rary|January 20, 2020 at 4:51 PM EST - Updated January 20 at 5:23 PM
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - The board of directors of one Hilton Head Island gated community has decided to cull up to 25 white-tailed deer from the neighborhood.
โI think the board should really be aware that they should ask the opinion of the residents that live here. Theyโre here for us, theyโre not here for themselves,โ Palmetto Dunes resident Doreen DeSa said.
Some Palmetto Dunes residents were shocked this weekend when they learned their board had voted to cull 25 white-tail deer from the neighborhood. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has already approved the move.
โThe deer, I donโt know, they sort of, they come every day. They come; you see them. You see their babies. And they donโt bother anybody,โ DeSa said.
DeSa says sometimes deer will come down through her backyard so that they are closer to the water and she and her husband love to watch them. She says as often as it happens, itโs never been so much that she thinks that there is overpopulation or that it has affected her landscaping.
One board member said the board had asked management to do a survey of how many deer were around.
โAfter the survey, information was presented to the board. A motion was made by a board member to perform a cull of 25 deer. Up to 25 deer,โ board member Mike Vaccaro said.
The information was put on the Nextdoor app and some residents were shocked.
โNo reason was ever given as to why this was happening,โ DeSa said.
Both Vaccaro and DeSa say they want more information before the cull moves forward.
โThey did not even poll the residents. They didnโt ask whether we wanted it. They didnโt ask us whether we didnโt want it,โ DeSa said.
โThe reason I voted no was that we just need more information before [we perform a cull],โ Vaccaro said.
The CEO of Palmetto Dunes said the board made the decision so quickly because they considered it a public health and safety matter. But they will be communicating more clearly and frequently with residents in the coming weeks and months.
Copyright 2020 WTOC. All rights reserved.