DALTON GARDENS - The cliche doesn't apply here.

That expression that describes standing still in the face of immediate danger - too startled to move - doesn't really hold water in Dalton Gardens, where deer hardly notice passing cars, let alone if their headlights are on.

The commingling of deer and people can still be dangerous in the town of blended rural and residential development, and most citizens have a story of an accident with the animal, or a close call.

They also have stories about how they have befriended the animals, fed them out of their hands, as they hoof through their yards by the hundreds.

Others tell tales of deer munching their flowers, trampling their gardens, and carrying diseases pets are susceptible to pick up.

"All the citizens," Mayor Dan Franklin put it, "have a deer story."

So much so, the city is exploring options to get the deer to leave, starting a citizen ad hoc committee of around 10 people to see what, if anything, can be done.

One suggestion getting bounced around: Let hunters thin the deer population.

"Hire a professional hunter or let us use a shotgun or let guys use a bow," said Tom Dickerson, resident since 1974, who has seen the deer population explode in his neighborhood over the last 10 years.

The committee is breaking into subcommittees, so each can explore different possible methods, and hunting is one of those, one committee member said.

Dickerson isn't on the committee, but said other options are practically useless. The deer are so used to being fed, a no-feeding ordinance would be moot, especially since apple trees and gardens are feeding them, not necessarily people throwing food into their yards.

A repellent will wash away with the rain, he said.

"I don't see anything changing," he said, unless the hunting route, which would abide by Fish and Game regulations, is taken.

Others said that's too drastic and too dangerous. Hunting, whether with bullets or bow, doesn't mix well with families in yards and cars driving up and down streets.

"Bow hunting is not something you can pick up in five days," said Gary Perkins, resident since 1989 and committee member. "I'd be concerned for the safety function."

Too much could go wrong with shooting, he said. And what about all the hit deer who wandered to other yards to die? Would it be up to that property owner to take care of it there? And what about those kids who stumble across a dying deer?

"If they're worried about that, they should hire a professional," Dickerson countered, adding that families that choose to live in a rural area should be used to the life and death cycle of nature.

And who is on who's turf?

Some residents say the deer came first, and the homeowners should adjust, while others said it didn't become a problem until people began feeding them, and by attracting them with food, the animal has grown used to living where it once didn't.

It's been a long-standing issue in Dalton Gardens, a town just north of Coeur d'Alene that abuts Canfield Mountain. The city is considering adopting a no-feeding ordinance, while it already made a rule allowing 8-foot tall internal fences to keep deer from gardens.

But it can be a touchy subject too.

One resident said they were all for the hunt, but didn't want to give a name for the newspaper to print for just that aforementioned reason.

Fernan, a tiny town east of Coeur d'Alene, experienced the same problem. It has a no-feed policy and used to trap the deer and transport them out.

The trapping proved successful, Mayor Jim Elder said, but two years ago funding for the operation ran out, and the deer population has returned.

"There really isn't anything to do about it," Elder said.

In Helena, Mont., it became such an issue - even dangerous since the deer were acting aggressively toward people - the city began trapping and killing some, and donating their meat to the needy, according to a 2008 New York Times report.

Back in Dalton Gardens, Franklin said it will take a community effort to explore all options, and nothing is set in stone yet.

The next committee meeting is tentatively planned for two weeks.

And some neighbors called the deer down-right nuisances. But they didn't want to kill them, necessarily.

"They're killing me," said Anita Avila, who has lost hundreds of dollars in plants, but supported most measures other than hunting to rid them.

One deer even ate out of her bird feeder, and didn't go away as she tried to scare it.

"It'd be nice if we could co-exist, but they're so destructive," she said.

Kathy Cardwell, speaking Thursday as deer raced across her yard, called them a nuisance, but beautiful, too.

"When you see one it's like you're seeing one for the first time."

Perkins remembers watching one give birth in his backyard.

"That's something to behold," he said.