The Bambi Conundrum
BC mayors mull culls as deer populations rise
Epoch Times Staff
Created: Jul 14, 2011
Last Updated: Jul 14, 2011
It’s such a sensitive issue with the deer-sympathetic public that politicians have been loath to touch it. But with deer ruining gardens and crops and even stalking and attacking people, many B.C. municipalities are considering a cull, however controversial.
With no natural predators in towns and cities and a veritable smorgasbord of readily availableshrubs and flower beds to munch on, deer populations have exploded in numerous communities across North America in the last 20 years, and governments are struggling to find a solution.
“These deer eat everything that’s green—anything that you can grow they’ll eat it now. At the beginning they didn’t, but as time went on by they now have adapted to eating everything. They even open up garbage bags with their hooves,” says Jim Ogilvie, Mayor of Kimberley, B.C.
Ogilvie says the deer have become so habituated that they’ve lost their natural fear of humans.
“Over several generations they’ve learned how to live right within the community. Seems as if they’ve never been in the wild, some of these deer. People try to scare them and they don’t even move.”
Ogilvie is particularly concerned because two people have been attacked by aggressive deer in Kimberley. One of them ended up in hospital.
Last month, a fully grown doe jumped a two-metre fence at a home in Kenora, B.C., ran up the deck stairs, and charged at a child. A small dog was trampled before the doe was chased off. A petition is making the rounds in Kenora calling for a cull of the deer population there.
In spring, female deer will react to a real or perceived threat to their young, while during the rut in late fall, males can become aggressive.
Other threats posed by the overabundance of deer in urban areas include vehicular collisions, agricultural and forest damage, and health risks through deer infested with ticks carrying Lyme disease.
READ FULL POST HERE
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| A white-tailed deer nibbles on a hedge. Deer populations have exploded in numerous communities across North America in the last 20 years. (Joan Delaney/The Epoch Times) |
It’s such a sensitive issue with the deer-sympathetic public that politicians have been loath to touch it. But with deer ruining gardens and crops and even stalking and attacking people, many B.C. municipalities are considering a cull, however controversial.
With no natural predators in towns and cities and a veritable smorgasbord of readily availableshrubs and flower beds to munch on, deer populations have exploded in numerous communities across North America in the last 20 years, and governments are struggling to find a solution.
“These deer eat everything that’s green—anything that you can grow they’ll eat it now. At the beginning they didn’t, but as time went on by they now have adapted to eating everything. They even open up garbage bags with their hooves,” says Jim Ogilvie, Mayor of Kimberley, B.C.
Ogilvie says the deer have become so habituated that they’ve lost their natural fear of humans.
“Over several generations they’ve learned how to live right within the community. Seems as if they’ve never been in the wild, some of these deer. People try to scare them and they don’t even move.”
Ogilvie is particularly concerned because two people have been attacked by aggressive deer in Kimberley. One of them ended up in hospital.
Last month, a fully grown doe jumped a two-metre fence at a home in Kenora, B.C., ran up the deck stairs, and charged at a child. A small dog was trampled before the doe was chased off. A petition is making the rounds in Kenora calling for a cull of the deer population there.
In spring, female deer will react to a real or perceived threat to their young, while during the rut in late fall, males can become aggressive.
Other threats posed by the overabundance of deer in urban areas include vehicular collisions, agricultural and forest damage, and health risks through deer infested with ticks carrying Lyme disease.
READ FULL POST HERE
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