© GerryIt’s just so utterly, vapidly stupid!
The town of Cranbrook, British Columbia, population 19,000 (humans, that is; we’ll get to the deer in a moment), has again applied for a permit from the provincial government to lethally cull mule deer. This is done by catching the deer in collapsible live traps, jumping on them, placing a bolt gun against the head, and driving a steel bolt into the brain. You can see it here.[teaserbreak]
Cranbrook is located in the middle of habitat suitable for mule deer (which are in decline in British Columbia overall) and white-tailed deer. The Cranbrook Community Forest sits on the town’s northeast corner. White-tails are typically skittish and shy, but “mulies,” as they are often called, can show relatively little fear of people. Unlike white-tails, mulies will defend their fawns. Mulies will attack dogs, especially if off-leash, and they eat garden plants, and defecate, and get hit by cars. They rarely touch people, but they’ve been known to do so. And, a buck in a rut, while not aggressive toward humans, will run right into one to get to where he’s going.
Of course, this is all very rare, and it is usually specific, individual animals who can pose problems. However, Cranbrook’s “solution” has been to catch and kill a number of deer, randomly selected. The result has been… Wait for it… MORE deer (and, on average, more negative interactions between deer and people). Most deer, including virtually all the white-tails, cause no harm. But, no matter; if caught, they’re killed. That’s both cruel and utterly idiotic.
Counts of mule deer in Cranbrook are taken each year. In 2010, there were 96; 74 and 57 in two separate counts in 2012; 80 in 2013; 71 in 2014; and 116 in 2015. Thus, there are roughly 100 deer, or, very approximately, one mule deer for every 190 humans, plus a much smaller number of white-tails. Complaints about deer have, on average, greatly increased since culling started.
Other communities in that part of British Columbia, the Kootenays, are trying methods that actually work, including deer translocation. One of the most important things one can do is keep dogs leashed and away from deer. Nearly every instance of a mulie being aggressive toward a person has involved a dog! Where I live, in Markham, Ontario, you see virtually no dogs off leash (except in designated leash-free locations). But, in the towns in the Kootenays, there are dogs everywhere, often running loose.
Driver education, attention to drivers’ “sight-lines,” planting vegetation deer don’t eat, and even using certain scare tactics are all options variously explored, along with an effort to focus on only the aggressive deer who cause problems—and they all show signs of actually working.
But, Cranbrook continues to do the ineffective: killing randomly, thinking it will make a difference, while ignoring the facts. It is utterly, vapidly stupid.
Keep wildlife in the wild,
Barry