DALTON GARDENS - Nearly 50 people turned out Thursday night at Dalton Gardens City Hall for a public hearing on a no-feeding-deer ordinance.

The council approved the ordinance following public comment, with residents either firmly in favor or strongly opposed. City officials have been working for years to find solutions to the city's burgeoning deer population.

The council also approved signing a contract with a trapper who will try and capture as many as 25 deer this winter and move them to a wildlife management area south of Coeur d'Alene. The trapping starts next month.

Resident Les Likes asked the council to consider who would have the "blood on their hands" if a coyote or cougar - drawn into town because of the deer - goes after somebody's kid.

"What are we going to do when the coyotes over-populate in the area?" said Likes, who lives on 15th Street and has been one of the most consistent voices pleading for action.

Some residents said having deer in their yard is just the obvious result of living in a semi-rural and semi-urban area that borders a national forest. Some complained that it would be too hard to comply with a no-feeding ordinance, and others just don't want any more regulation.

Robert Wuest, another city resident, said he didn't like the idea of people reporting alleged violations by their neighbors to the city.

"I don't want them turning me in for feeding the birds," Wuest said. "We don't want neighbors turning against each other."

Others said something has to be done and a no-feeding ordinance is a great place to start. Many residents have complained about the deer as a traffic hazard, and one resident joked that he would send the city the bill if he struck one.

As for trapping and removing deer, Councilman Dick Epstein explained that the community of Fernan trapped deer for a few years and reduced the population to a manageable number.

"They said the herd has not grown back," Epstein said.

Councilman Joe Myers said the combination of a no-feeding ordinance and trapping is a fair, middle-ground approach to reducing the "resident (deer) population" in the city.

"We've got to do something," Myers said. "The citizens have spoken (in a survey and at past meetings) and they want something done."

Violators of the no-feeding ordinance will first be given a warning and directed to educational material. Subsequent violations will result in a $100 fine.