Sunday, August 01, 2010

Oh Deer! Just Leave'em Be.

The Vancouver Sun, BC flagship of the newly minted PostMedia chain, has a ridiculous article entitled "Doe-Eyed and Dangerous" about a supposed spike in deer attacks in British Columbia.   The newspaper posits the increased attacks are the result of a big increase in urban deer populations.

Bollocks.   The deer do attack - to defend their fawns against perceived predators such as your dog.  The deer don't go after your dog, the dog has to come toward them.

It's not at all uncommon for me to see five or six deer in my front garden, chomping away at my perennials.   In my neighbourhood we quite like the creatures and, short of outright feeding them, go out of our way to accommodate them.   Even when we drive we're on the lookout for them and we always stop traffic both ways when they're crossing the street which probably has something to do with the fact that we never see a dead one lying on the side of the road - until the summer tourists arrive.

Some places, like Cranbrook, are considering a deer cull.   Maybe they should consider culling the dimwits and their dogs that won't leave the deer be during fawning season.

1 comment:

Anyong said...

Instead of culling the deer, why can't they be transported to a less populated area? Simple answer really. In Canada many of us have an attitude of blast it regarding the environment and kill it regarding wild animals.