A remote Michigan island's unique plant life is under threat from a booming deer population that is eating its way through the landscape.
Beaver Island, located off the Northern tip of Michigan near Mackinac Island, has just 616 residents, according to the 2020 US Census.
But for every person there are at least three deer roaming the small 55.8sq m island - and residents say that it's becoming a problem.
'It is way over the island's carrying capacity,' resident Pam Grassmick told MLive.
The island can support 12 deer per square mile, Grassmick said, nearly three times fewer than the current deer population of an estimated 32 animals per square mile.
Residents have resorted to installing high fencing to protect their yards, gardens and fruit trees from the hungry herds.
The animals are stripping the forest, shoreline habitats and cedar swamps of vegetation, according to wildlife biologist Jeremy Wood.
'Regeneration of branches off the existing older cedar is essentially gone,' Wood told the outlet. 'And they take advantage of every tree that blows down within those areas.'
The overpopulation of deer has left the forest floor bare in the northern part of the island and has put rare plant life, such as the Michigan monkeyflower and dwarf lake iris, at risk.
In response, the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has proposed extending the doe hunting season by 20 days for the next three years to control numbers and save the habitat. The agency has asked for resident feedback on the proposal.
Beaver Island resident Shelby Renee Harris supported the idea, saying that an extension of the antlerless deer season would 'protect our high quality vegetation areas that are stressed by over-browsing.'
Harris also believed that it would 'incentivize more hunters to come to the island to hunt and aid in our economic and cultural growth.'
Another island resident, Nicholas De Laat, agreed with the plan on condition that it applied to residents only.
'If they are going to do it, they ought to do it for permanent island residents only,' he wrote on Facebook.
Resident Angel Welke told MLive that the number of hunter visitors dropped significantly when the island experienced bad weather in November and December - and that Beaver Island no longer attracted the same crowds it did in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, she said that hunting remained an important pastime for island residents.
The Department of Natural Resources has proposed extending the doe hunting season by 20 days for the next three years to control the population
But not everyone is in favor of the proposal, including resident Jon Bonadeo, who said the deer population had been declining in recent years.
'I am strongly against this,' he wrote on Facebook. 'My belief is that our deer population is way down. Cameras show less deer than the last four years. This decision is irresponsible and not based on fact-finding evidence.
'I hope the DNR leaves our deer herd alone.'
Public comments about the hunt extension can be sent to woodj26@michigan.gov with 'Beaver Island Deer Proposal' as the subject title. Residents have until October 31 to comment.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the DNR for comment.