1105 replies to this topic

[aastra]

Re: getting 'em, I do think we need to recover some basic common sense on these sorts of matters. They're large wild animals, so they're going to do what large wild animals do. It makes no sense to judge their behaviour as right or wrong according to the standards of human society, just as it makes no sense to expect wild animals to abide by our pop culture stereotypes about how they should think/behave.

One of the longstanding principles of urban civilization was the separation of the human domain from the wild domain. In the last 40 years or so we seem to have decided that the domains need not be separated after all. Now we're re-learning in a hurry what the benefits were, not just for people but for the animals, too.

Some people seem to think it's wondrous and beautiful to see a pack of raccoons infesting a dumpster behind a supermarket, or to see a cougar stalking an elementary school, or to see coyotes tearing apart a housecat, or to see deer carelessly strolling across a busy intersection. I admit that I have a difficult time grasping the majesty. They're all ugly scenes. That ain't the beauty of nature, folks. That's a mess that we've created.

[Langford Rat]

The “cull by car” system being carried out on Gillespie Road (and increasing annually) doesn’t seem to be working out very well. It’s expensive, brutal, and I can attest very dangerous. I imagine that for every one I see laying in a broken heap on the side of the road there’s at least a few more that got clipped and managed to struggle out of sight before bleeding out. Of course, there’s more traffic on the road than there used to be, but having driven that road to and fro for the past 20 years I know there’s way more deer on that road than there used to be. It’s a fact. Perhaps the increased building out that way has driven the cougars further back into East Sooke Park. Perhaps milder winters are reducing their natural mortality rate. Whatever the reason, it just can’t be ignored. I’ve culled a couple myself over the years and ditched my truck twice trying to avoid culling a couple more. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in crops are lost to local Victoria farms every year by foraging deer. The number of annual deer-related auto accidents has tripled in the past decade and arguments like “they were here first” or “you just want to kill them because they’re eating your Begonias” are just so much scat. We’ll piddle away a quarter million dollars studying and analyzing and then, amidst much wailing and gnashing of teeth, there’ll be a cull. (Regardless of how much people will try and anthropomorphize them…oh no, not Bambi ). It’s time.

[Mike K.]

This is what a collision with a deer looks like. WARNING, it's not for kiddies.

[Jacques Cadé]

$200K for the CRD to conduct a deer study? Anyone with a computer can do it in three minutes.

The species: http://en.wikipedia....ack-tailed_deer

Hunting techniques: http://www.blacktail...tml/blkpage.htm

Recipes: http://www.venison-m...ml/recipes.html

[Scotfree]

When The Ice retreated and uncovered the lower part of this island The People arrived and occupied the shoreland.
Deer are a large prey animal. Wolves, cougar and people are large predators. Deer were not hanging around the village sites. Deer avoid predators.
When Hudson Bay traders arrived there were no deer populations living and breeding where people were living.
When farmers first tilled Victoria and Saanich land, deer were so uncommon they were greeted with excitement and people wrote about seeing them.
So sure, our deer our native to Van Isle but they arent "natural" in an urban setting. There should be no deer in Fernwood or Rockland. (Sooke? I don't know)
A cull is the correct answer to the deer question. And the answer that Nature requires.

[maniac78]

I love the irony here. Imagine the internal conflict a declared vegan, locovore, environut undergoes when their prized vegetable garden is destroyed by uvic rabits or out of control deer.

[Bingo]

Todays CFAX NEWS POLL

Does the Victoria area need a deer cull?

http://www.cfax1070.com/

[UrbanRail]

When The Ice retreated and uncovered the lower part of this island The People arrived and occupied the shoreland.
Deer are a large prey animal. Wolves, cougar and people are large predators. Deer were not hanging around the village sites. Deer avoid predators.
When Hudson Bay traders arrived there were no deer populations living and breeding where people were living.
When farmers first tilled Victoria and Saanich land, deer were so uncommon they were greeted with excitement and people wrote about seeing them.
So sure, our deer our native to Van Isle but they arent "natural" in an urban setting. There should be no deer in Fernwood or Rockland. (Sooke? I don't know)
A cull is the correct answer to the deer question. And the answer that Nature requires.

well since the natural home of the deer is being replaced by urban expansion and its natural predators killed off, where would u suggest the deer go? the problem isnt the deer, its us.

[Holden West]

Can't scientists genetically modify deer to have a voracious appetite for ivy, dandelions and scotch broom?

[Sparky]

^

[Phil McAvity]

One of the longstanding principles of urban civilization was the separation of the human domain from the wild domain. In the last 40 years or so we seem to have decided that the domains need not be separated after all. Now we're re-learning in a hurry what the benefits were, not just for people but for the animals, too.

I don't know where you got the idea that clashes between man and beast only arose in the last 40 years or so but i'm pretty sure that tension has existed as long as we've shared the planet.

Rather than spending 200k on a study that local government will probably ignore anyway, how about we take that money to tranquilize the deer, load them in trucks and drive them up island? 200k would pay for a lot of tranquilizer darts and gas.

[UrbanRail]

I don't know where you got the idea that clashes between man and beast only arose in the last 40 years or so but i'm pretty sure that tension has existed as long as we've shared the planet.

Rather than spending 200k on a study that local government will probably ignore anyway, how about we take that money to tranquilize the deer, load them in trucks and drive them up island? 200k would pay for a lot of tranquilizer darts and gas.

Or we can stop killing the deer's natural predators and building in their food supply areas (unlikely to happen).

[Bingo]

Not unlike the Pine Beetle that could have been stopped when first discovered, we have a deer invasion that needed to be thought about years ago.

Generations of deer that have grown up in our backyards have no idea that there are thousands of hectares of forests that could offer a better lifestyle.

[aastra]

One of the longstanding principles of urban civilization was the separation of the human domain from the wild domain. In the last 40 years or so we seem to have decided that the domains need not be separated after all...

I don't know where you got the idea that clashes between man and beast only arose in the last 40 years or so but i'm pretty sure that tension has existed as long as we've shared the planet.

Phil's homework for tonight is to read the top bit again and figure out why the second bit doesn't make any sense as a reply.

[Sparky]

I think Phil's response was thought provoking.

His idea may have more merit than one would think at first glance.

[aastra]

I always find his responses to be thought-provoking. Especially when I agree with him and he's still arguing with me.

[gumgum]

I don't understand why we don't just kill them and eat them.
Seems the most logical and environmentally friendly thing to do.

[G-Man]

^ Agree!

Venison Sausage is yum!

[Sparky]

I always find his responses to be thought-provoking. Especially when I agree with him and he's still arguing with me.

[Langford Rat]

There’s an animal rights group out of Vancouver, called “Lifeforce” that is organizing a boycott of the Capital Regional District if this goes through. They’ve had an online petition up since Feb 6 and have over 200 people signed up! That’s right folks, over 200 people (the majority of them from Europe, Australia, and South America) who will not be buying any goods or services from the South Island! Yikes! That’s gonna hurt in the morning.