Critter population

after the first round of vasectomies, which happened in fall 2016, but too soon to see an impact — there was one fawn for every doe. Now, there’s about one fawn for every two does, he said.

The results of the first-ofits kind program had Mayor de Blasio, well, fawning.

“We are already seeing tangible progress from this novel strategy, and earlier than expected,” he said. “These numbers show that our smart, humane plan is the right one, both for Staten Islanders and their antlered neighbors.”

The project, which from some corners has elicited snickers or sympathetic legcrossing, costs $3.6 million over three years, including an extra $300,000 budget increase that was required because Staten Island was home to even more deer than first suspected.

The plan involves baiting traps, shooting bucks with tranquilizer darts and having vets perform a surgery that takes just a few minutes. The deer are then tagged. The mortality rate has been just 0.5%, DeNicola said, and the deer are still amorous.

“They’re still keeping busy. They’re very busy,” he said. “This is purely a vasectomy, so all systems are go.”