Deer cull in Okanagan

[Fancy]

Here's where math is important again. If the deer "keep coming back" which they do,
then it will be impossible to kill 100% of the deer.

So - kill some of the deer. Just kill a percentage - fifteen deer per year - in the orchards. Not near schools or cities.
...

So why not slaughter a few deer every year. And leave a few.

Because you haven't eliminated the problem.

[lensbaby]

Here's where math is important again. If the deer "keep coming back" which they do,
then it will be impossible to kill 100% of the deer.

So - kill some of the deer. Just kill a percentage - fifteen deer per year - in the orchards. Not near schools or cities.
...

So why not slaughter a few deer every year. And leave a few.

Because you haven't eliminated the problem.

The problem is the people who choose to live here and then whine about the deer. If they don't like it they should leave - not try to change the environment to suit their own selfish preferences.

[Fancy]

Nothing selfish at all moving into a neighbourhood. The deer don't belong.

[Thinktank]

do some math.

eliminating 1/3 of the problem by killing some deer is better than nothing.

[Fancy]

do some math.

eliminating 1/3 of the problem by killing some deer is better than nothing.

That's not the same as eliminating the problem - might try some math yourself.

[AlienSoldier]

The problem is not the deer, its the fact that we have created an environment where they are safe from predators, provide an abundance of food, and we keep pushing the predators they have closer to extinction.

Its like roaches, or geese, or any other animal, if you provide it conditions to thrive, IT WILL THRIVE! Killing them will not solve the problem. There probably needs to be multiple solutions started to reduce the herds, such as banning killing animals that kill deer. More enforcement of garbage being closed off, creating a network of ways for the animals and the predators to move across areas around the Okanagan. This still might not solve the problem, heck I'm no expert, but its better than shooting them every year and hoping it changes something.

[Gone_Fishin]

The solution is funding and licensing for winter range habitat enhancement. The roadblocks are cheap people who don't want to fund it, and whining people who don't like a week of slashburning. So we come back right to where we are, with people whining about deer and orchardists wanting a cull.

[MAPearce]

Leave deer alone. We're taking over their habitat so they're moving into ours. I'm sick of people whining about wildlife in the city. Move to the concrete jungle if you don't like it.

I did move to the concrete jungle ... The deer followed .

It's because of dumbassed people who think they're cute and feed them that they keep coming.

[Queen K]

I'll pull up all my tulips MAP I get up every morning to see if Bambi has dined out at Chez QK's tulip-bar. Sometimes they have.

Where's Gone_Fishin's bow and arrow when I need it?

[normaM]

Having moved from a big City I love seeing the deer here. People around me have figured out to plant what deer won't eat. We do drive them out of their home turfs ( Kettle Valley) so then we just eliminate them? No.

[Fancy]

Getting more than a dozen in a herd roaming around is just asking for trouble. The City of Kelowna is open to educating those in affected areas but to say deer come first over people is silly as neighbourhoods will expand and more people will come. I'm all for informing people of the right foliage to plant to discourage deer but fencing the way it would need to be done isn't always feasible.

[normaM]

Deer probably have a forum .. I can hear them saying " having more than a dozen humans roaming around just asking for trouble" No one in our area complain about them, actually we look forward to seeing the new fawns.
I get they are a nuisance to some, but it just seems like we are fast to try to eliminate everyfreakinthing

[lensbaby]

Deer probably have a forum .. I can hear them saying " having more than a dozen humans roaming around just asking for trouble" No one in our area complain about them, actually we look forward to seeing the new fawns.
I get they are a nuisance to some, but it just seems like we are fast to try to eliminate everyfreakinthing

The people who started the petition live close to me. Part of their claim was that the deer trashed their yards and that they seriously injured a neighbors dog. I went to their houses - their yards are pristine enough to be on the garden tour - and nobody in the area could identify the "mystery" dog. I wonder why? They came to my house asking me to sign their petition - I doubt that they'll be back.

[danmartin]

I'm not too sure if I want to get into this hot potato of a topic. My yard is completely fenced with an ugly 7 foot tall wire fence like many here in Grand Forks have to keep the roaming herds of deer at bay. I know many people love them and have witnessed people feeding them. I do enjoy seeing them too but I believe that at some point we have to accept that we are causing a problem. Towns have become a safe place for them to live and with no predators they're becoming more and more numerous as well as emboldened. Just two months ago I witnessed a large mule doe charge my dog who was on his side of the fence thank goodness. There was no young fawns around so I wonder what will happen this year when the doe give birth. My concern is besides dogs getting targeted these doe may attach an human. This town has a huge issue with them everywhere

[alanjh595]

I'm not too sure if I want to get into this hot potato of a topic. My yard is completely fenced with an ugly 7 foot tall wire fence like many here in Grand Forks have to keep the roaming herds of deer at bay. I know many people love them and have witnessed people feeding them. I do enjoy seeing them too but I believe that at some point we have to accept that we are causing a problem. Towns have become a safe place for them to live and with no predators they're becoming more and more numerous as well as emboldened. Just two months ago I witnessed a large mule doe charge my dog who was on his side of the fence thank goodness. There was no young fawns around so I wonder what will happen this year when the doe give birth. My concern is besides dogs getting targeted these doe may attach an human. This town has a huge issue with them everywhere

Yes, that is the big dilemma. On one hand, they intrude on our property and eat our stuff, on the other....we have intruded upon theirs and re eating their stuff. On one hand they are just so damn cute, on the other they can and will kill your dog in your own back yard. On one hand, they are just looking for something to eat where there is a safe neighbourhood for their young ones to grow up in, on the other hand, so do we.

What is the solution? I don't have that answer. Do we exert our superior ability to kill them? After all, if they had the ability to kill us, then maybe we have the right of survival on our side? Deer have become a nuisance to us humans, but they are not a threat to our survival.