Castanet

Hush they can hear you and will be drawn over here shortly. Looks to be a non-mangled year so far.

SO FAR!

You do know that you have jinxed yourself?.......right?

Are they handing out urban human tags ?

Country plough boy wrote:Are they handing out urban human tags ?

If the deer handed out human tags, Upper Mission would be cleared out pretty fast.

I have live in Penticton since 1959. Every year my father had large garden in the back yard, no fence. Never had an issue with deer. Rarely saw any deer. The reason we have so many deer here now is there are no predators to control the population. A big reason there are fewer deer in the mountains is the increasing wolf population. Rarely saw wolf sign many years ago but see it regularly now. Predators control the deer population, plain and simple.

The deer were here first
Contributed - Apr 12, 2019 / 2:40 pm | Story: 253913
Re: Deer are out of control

Maurice, we tolerate the deer in town because the forest they "belong in" has been taken over by homes.

They were here first, it's us who have created development upon development of cookie cutter homes in their backyard.

The deer are eating your thousand-dollar hedges and fancy rose bushes because homes have taken over in an area that was once populated by nature, not people.

The deer are not imposing any changes on society, nor are they asking to get stuck on your fence. They are hungry and have themselves and their babies to feed.

If we choose to destroy their homes by creating homes for ourselves, then what choice do they have but to go in search of food?

I understand the frustration, but culling them is a short-term solution. They belong in the wild, we do not. So unless we stop invading their territory they have no choice but to invade ours.

In the meantime, I suggest you plant daffodils, poppies, foxglove, English boxwood and dusty miller, then the deer will despise you as much as you despise them.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/253913/The-deer-were-here-first

Yes!!!! Take that, Maurice!!

30-40 years ago there was only a deer problem when there wasn't enough on the table
but in this new age of saving all lives of course mankind gets crowded out
you asked for it

When was the last time deer did anything for us?

They are dumber than cows and more annoying than moskitoes.

If they all disappeared it would be swell.

Even Steven wrote:When was the last time deer did anything for us?

They are dumber than cows and more annoying than moskitoes.

If they all disappeared it would be swell.

Maybe step away from the bong

Sige wrote:The deer were here first
Contributed - Apr 12, 2019 / 2:40 pm | Story: 253913
Re: Deer are out of control

Maurice, we tolerate the deer in town because the forest they "belong in" has been taken over by homes.

They were here first, it's us who have created development upon development of cookie cutter homes in their backyard.

The deer are eating your thousand-dollar hedges and fancy rose bushes because homes have taken over in an area that was once populated by nature, not people.

The deer are not imposing any changes on society, nor are they asking to get stuck on your fence. They are hungry and have themselves and their babies to feed.

If we choose to destroy their homes by creating homes for ourselves, then what choice do they have but to go in search of food?

I understand the frustration, but culling them is a short-term solution. They belong in the wild, we do not. So unless we stop invading their territory they have no choice but to invade ours.

In the meantime, I suggest you plant daffodils, poppies, foxglove, English boxwood and dusty miller, then the deer will despise you as much as you despise them.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/253913/The-deer-were-here-first

Yes!!!! Take that, Maurice!!

Do you have any concept whatsoever of the total land mass footprint covered by humans as compared to the natural forage lands available to ungulates in this vast Province??
Urban deer are more closely compared to rats. They are not displaced by human settlement but rather have evolved to become dependent on human settlement for ease of forage and the protection we provide from their natural predators. It is not natural and should be discouraged at every level.

twobits wrote:Do you have any concept whatsoever of the total land mass footprint covered by humans as compared to the natural forage lands available to ungulates in this vast Province??
Urban deer are more closely compared to rats. They are not displaced by human settlement but rather have evolved to become dependent on human settlement for ease of forage and the protection we provide from their natural predators. It is not natural and should be discouraged at every level.

You keep thinking that way

Thank you for your permission. I will.

Do you have any concept whatsoever of the total land mass footprint covered by humans as compared to the natural forage lands available to ungulates in this vast Province??

remember that the development footprint is taking up the prime winter habitat. Just because there is lots of wilderness doesn't mean there is an abundance of good habitat for deer.

According to biologists and COs I've spoken with, the land the city's on was not preferred habitat for the deer until we made it preferred habitat for deer. Too swampy until we de-swamped it.

Our bylaws now protect them from harassment by dogs, we provide plenty for them to eat, and we protect them from their natural predators (cougars year round, and coyotes while their fawns are young). Best of all for them, there's no reason to change locations with the seasons as the food and protection is available in town all year round.

And that's also worst of all for them, since their non-migratory behaviour and lifetimes spent in close proximity to an ever-thickening herd means they are more likely to transmit infestations and diseases to one another. This is not a healthy situation for them.

Relocation is not an option. Even second-generation city deer won't have the instincts required to survive outside the city. They've lost all that would have come naturally to them had they been raised in the vast area their ancestors called home, the majority of which is still just as available to them as it has always been, but is less desirable than the predator-free smorgasbord we provide for them in town.

Brushy Bill wrote: remember that the development footprint is taking up the prime winter habitat. Just because there is lots of wilderness doesn't mean there is an abundance of good habitat for deer.

And here is another great example of lack of concept and perspective. The development of City margins up the hillsides for human housing is minuscule. It does not even amount to a fraction of one percent of deer habitat. But it is always a popular target for deer huggers.
If you are concerned about low elevation winter habitat, your angst for the deer would be better directed at the agriculture industry. The low elevation winter habitat of the the east and west benches for the entire length of the Okanagan valley have been 100% occupied and now fenced off to grow our favorite fruits and wines. Why is it no one seems to see this as any kind of issue but if some homes for humans are "developed" at the fringes of our very small urban circle of influence, we are wiping out wildlife?