STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - When it comes to reducing Staten Island's deer population, City Hall says it is doing its best. 

It cites a 15 percent decline in deer in two years to 1,737 thanks to a program giving vasectomies to bucks.

Staten Island officials say that's not good enough. 

"It’s a trend. But meanwhile today as we sit here, 3 major problems continue. Collisions, spike in tick-borne diseases and ecological devastation," said Staten Island Borough President James Oddo.

Oddo still champions some kind of regulated hunt to reduce the numbers.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says it is studying the issue, although hunting is illegal in the five boroughs.

Congressman Max Rose says he supports the idea too, telling the Staten Island Advance editorial board this week that he would "build a little hide for myself, ill go back to my glory days and I’ll start taking down some of these deer.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio, however, says he should hold his fire. 

"I would urge the congressman to talk to the NYPD they are very much opposed to hunting taking place in a borough with half a million people in close proximity to each other, and close proximity to the wooded areas," De Blasio said.

Residents have also grown increasingly frustrated by the impact of deer on their landscaping and vegetation. Some residents are hiring companies which promise to spray natural repellents on shrubs to deter deer.

"They’re battling the elements of animals. Of deer. They’re gonna go and spend 12 to 15 hundred dollars to really dress up the front and back of their yard - and then by the end of the winter everything looks like they didn’t do anything because it’s all eaten," said Vinny Gerardi of Deer Authority.

The city Parks Department has begun installing deer enclosures on the borough's south shore, to prevent deer from chowing down on the plants and trees that grow there. 

The agency has begun planting trees to replace those eaten by deer — another expense to taxpayers Oddo says could be eliminated if there were simply fewer deer to contend with.