The District of Elkford responded to some recent public criticism over an approved deer harvest within town limits today (Dec. 24) on its Facebook page.

“A quick post to dispel some misconceptions about the Deer Harvesting in Elkford” was posted at about 3:30 p.m.

The following is the contents of the post

District of Elkford Council established a committee in 2010 to examine the urban deer issue. That committee considered a number of the options available, consulted with residents, completed several counts and did a survey of residents to come to a resolution. The committee recommended and the council accepted a proposal to apply to the province for a license to harvest deer. That license has been granted and a harvest is planned for January 2014. The Deer Committee was disbanded in 2011 as its mandate was complete.

There are an unnaturally high number of mule deer calling Elkford home, which poses a health and safety risk. People have been threatened and dogs have been attacked and seriously wounded by these stressed animals. The additional health risks to humans from the concentration of deer includes a higher risk of Lyme disease due to the increased number of ticks carried around town by this abnormal population of deer. The majority of residents responding to the survey agreed that something must be done, relocation was suggested as the most preferred but this process is very hard on deer with a high mortality rate and these deer are not used to living in the wild and so the mortality rate might be even higher.

In recent days some have suggested hazing with dogs. This is not allowed under current provincial regulations and while the province debates adding that provision our problem remains. Other sites have spoken of a form of birth control used on deer in the U.S. This is also not allowed in Canada and the firm responsible for this drug in Canada has stated publicly that this solution is not appropriate for populations of deer like Elkford has.

Other postings have suggested that the new Urban Wildlife Committee is not addressing the deer harvest and is not interested in hearing input on the matter – these suggestions are actually true, as the deer harvest was already brought to district council and approved; the matter is not part of the mandate of the Urban Wildlife Committee.

The Urban Wildlife Committee has met regularly, through advertised meetings, and has developed a draft bylaw to address urban wildlife issues in future. That draft bylaw is undergoing review and the acceptance process by district council and the province and is expected to go a long way towards ensuring that residents truly live in harmony with nature.

A large part of the current deer over-population is due to careless or negligent residents feeding or allowing deer to feed, which is not at all natural and worsens the problem.

The current harvest, which is planned for January and has not yet begun, is intended to bring the population to a more sustainable level, which will then be managed with the new urban wildlife control bylaw.

With the numbers of deer currently in town we are seeing many die horribly painful deaths from vehicle strikes and from starving over winter. The harvest is a short-term solution to a longer term problem with overcrowding.

The new bylaw is intended to address the root of the problem, which is how people interact with urban wildlife so that they can live in a proper and healthy manner as wild creatures.

To be Wild at Heart means sometimes making the tough choices that allow for a healthy deer population living appropriately in proximity to humans, not continuing to let sickly over crowded deer live unnatural lives just because we think they are cute.

District of Elkford

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