Following my election to Council I made it clear that the Deer issue would be a principal issue for me. As the Chair of the Deer Committee for the last two years we have hired a WildsafeBC Coordinator, Laurie Grant, who has conducted a comprehensive and intensive educational outreach program to contact and inform residents on the effects of human behaviour on deer. Feeding by humans, while in many cases well-intentioned, has the largest impact on deer behaviour and prolificacy in City limits. In fact, as a recent advertisement from ICBC indicates, upwards of 700 deer a year are killed in the Boundary region alone through wild-life collisions, and this is considered partially as the direct result of movement of deer from feeding site to feeding site. Another tactic has been to improve signage. “Keep Wildlife Wild” is the key phrase. The committee is looking for designs to appeal to different groups, such as tourists, trail users, feeders, and motorists, in order to discourage feeding or other familiarization with urban deer. NEWS FLASH!!! Yesterday we finished our deer collaring program. We started very early on the 12th November. In attendance were: Nigel and Emily (last names to follow), two veterinarians from the University of Calgary; Aaron Reid, a biologist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations; Jenny Coleshill, a local biologist; and myself as a former research assistant at the Agassiz Agricultural Research Station. Logan (last name to follow), a student under a Selkirk biology program, attended for the first couple of deer on the first day but had to leave to attend class. On the first day we managed to collar four does. On the second day, we collared the remaining 5 for a total of nine, which was our goal. Every one of the deer was darted by air-gun at less than 20 metres with no risk to the public. We visually tracked the darted animals at all times until each “bedded” and when the head went down the senior Vet (Nigel) approached to verify the level of sedation and administered additional tranquilizer when required, which was in only a small number of deer. On Nigel’s call the rest of us attended and immediately set upon our duties. These included the monitoring of heart rate, respiration, and body temperature so as to ensure their well-being of the animal during the event. The important data collections were of blood, hair, skin, and stool. Inspections for parasites, ticks, worms and other pathogens were also conducted. A neck measurement was made, an ear tag was applied, a radio transmitter collar was affixed, and a weight measurement was made. In each of the nine instances, we then cleared our gear, and injection of a tranquilizer reversal drug was made, and within 10 minutes, without exception, every one of the 9 deer hopped up, tried to figure out what they had on their neck, and eventually moved on to continue feeding in the usual manner. With one exception (who was really only concerned with our safety), every human interaction was very positive. Tomorrow, I will place a call to the Ministry of FLNRO staff to get to make a reminder of, and get an update on, the commitment made by Minister Thomson during our meeting with him at the UBCM just this last October. I learned that four communities were to speak on urban ungulates at the same time. So, I organized a pre-Minister-meeting scrum with Mayors Stetski from Cranbrook, Mayor Taft from Invermere, and Mayor Jensen from Oak Bay. We agreed that looking for a bag of provincial dollars for each community was not the route…especially when there were no dollars in the offing. Instead, we pushed for the establishment of a provincially supported committee on urban ungulates to address the increasing number of municipalities dealing with the issue, as well as the attendant issues such as partisan groups that would tie up City-supported efforts in litigation. Minister Thomson recognized our respective conundrums, acknowledged that they won’t get better on their own, and I am looking forward to a solid update on his pledge. Grand Forks is the poster child for deer counts: there is no one in this Province that has collected the amount of data we have. With this latest collaring program, we will join several communities in North America that are facing increasing urban deer population pressures that are undertaking proven monitoring methods and using the information gathered to help them formulate appropriate management strategies. As the question is on the ballot for the 15th, it is at least clear that residents are interested in a more clear consensus on whether or not a cull is seen as a viable management option. It’s another good reason to come out and vote.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:51:28 +0000
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