The change in weather has brought several welcome visitors to the River Forest Police Department, said Police Chief James O’Shea, which isn’t always the case. Staff have been spotting deer daily, ranging from large to small. Allegedly, they come to the back of 400 Park Ave. to feed on plants and rest in the grassy areas.
It’s positively calming. “Officers and other village employees welcome the peaceful viewing of nature,” O’Shea wrote in an email.
The animals appear to be white-tailed deer, the most common species in the state, which the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (INDR) has long worried are decreasing in number due to a viral disease. While Wednesday Journal does not wish to cause Bambi further suffering, a decline in the deer population is not always considered a bad thing. In 2009, the state legislature formed a task force to address the overpopulation of white-tailed deer, and Illinois typically ranks among the most popular states for deer hunting in the U.S.
But not within the municipal boundaries of River Forest.
Nona Tepper
