Spay Vac Project Thwarted by Pro-cull Politicians

There was much optimism in the room after the July 22, 2015 meeting of the Planning, Transportation and Protective Services Committe concerning a $35,000 grant to the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society when the majority of the Directors agreed that the organization should receive a grant for their work in non-lethal deer management. Although none of our local media attended, Oak Bay News ran this story: http://www.oakbaynews.com/news/318704801.html

Now on the CRD website:

The Chair of the CRD, Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen, is also on the Finance Committee.

“What I would feel most comfortable with … would be to say reduce the amount [that the municipality of Oak Bay would grant to UWSS] to $5,000 but give it to them based on them receiving the funding from the CRD,” said Coun. Hazel Braithwaite [Oak Bay]. “I would still like to see some of the education part go on and the count go on.”

With arrows shot through publicly funded deer signs, bullets fired at deer in broad daylight in the Uplands, and pro-cull councillors who want public education, deer signs and deer counts conducted and funded by grass roots groups, it appears that Oak Bay isn't the most progressive municipality in the CRD that should recieve the efforts and the expertise that the UWSS offers.

Urban deer don’t attract cougars

Times Colonist, Oct 18, 2015

Re: “Cougar sightings reason to cull deer,” letter, Oct. 7.


I would like to dispel a widely held but incorrect view: that urban deer are attracting cougars. I am a retired biologist with 35 years of experience in wildlife management.
In the late 1970s, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch produced maps that illustrated the distribution and abundance of each of the province’s large mammal species. I did the extensive background research for the cougar map.
One common thread was cougars coming into Victoria. This is nothing new and has happened every year as far back as records have been kept. In 1973, a cougar was shot on the steps of the Carnegie Building at Yates and Blanshard. Around the same time, another one entered the main foyer of a downtown office building. In 1998, a cougar walked into the old office of Scott Plastics near Fisherman’s Wharf.
These are a few of many such cases. All of these examples were in the last century. Deer only became numerous in Victoria since the year 2000.
Cougars are territorial, and young ones are forced into marginal areas by mature cats that occupy the best territories. This sometimes means living nearer to people than the cougar would like.
Generally, cougars want nothing to do with people, and if you think about it, how would they even know the deer are here? Do people think there is a sign in cougar language at the top of the Malahat that reads: “For a good lunch, go to Oak Bay”?
John Thornton
Victoria

Police Investigate Alleged Shooting of Deer in Oak Bay

October 15, 2015 07:30 from Adam Stirling

“Oak Bay police are investigating the possible shooting of deer in the municipality last night.

Residents in the Uplands area reported seeing a white van around 7:30pm approach a group of deer assembled on a boulevard. What is believed to have been a gunshot rang out as the deer scattered.

A nearby homeowner says what appeared to be an injured buck took refuge in their back yard for a period of time after the incident.

Police inspected the scene today and found evidence of an animal losing significant amounts of blood, but there was no sign of the buck.

The van is described only as white and being a late-90s model. Anyone with any information is asked to contact police.”


We are NOT going to be terrified into using our tax dollars to bolt gun deer in the head because these frustrated gardeners "mean business." Our municipal leaders need to be cognizant of the violence that this shooting has perpetrated on us all by the thinly veiled threat that was intended by this cowardly act.

We want safe cities that manage wildlife using science and compassion. Anything else will leave us all vulnerable to the violent-minded.

A Young Family is Terrified by Anti Deer Violence

Deer shot in drive-by in front of Bragg Creek home

Family is shocked by incident and worried about two fawns left behind

CBC News Posted: Oct 07, 2015 7:07 PM MT Last Updated: Oct 07, 2015 9:08 PM MT

Mackenzie Walsh and her three-year-old daughter Tilly in front of their house where a doe with two fawns was shot by a man in a BMW. (Allison Dempster/CBC)

It was a drive-by worthy of a Disney script.
A deer and her two fawns had been regular visitors to the Walsh family's West Bragg Creek property since spring, enough that Mackenzie Walsh says they were "almost like pets to us."
So she and her family reacted with horror when a man drove up in a BMW last weekend and shot the doe in front of their home.

The doe was killed on the weekend in front of the Walsh family home in West Bragg Creek. (Walsh family) 

The gunshot startled her three-year-old daughter Tilly and sent her husband running out the door to confront the man.
"He said, 'Stop!', and the guy peeled off. And then Justin, my husband, went and looked and sure enough he had shot the mom deer 15 metres basically from where we were sitting in our living room," Walsh told CBC News.
"Had he missed it could've gone straight through our window."
Walsh says people in the area are outraged by the incident, and she's concerned for the two fawns, which the family has named Hope and Grace.
"She has these two babies that now have no mom," Walsh said. "And I know it is that time of year where they're getting weaned, but they're not weaned yet and they need to bulk up before winter comes and it comes fast here, so that's another concern."

Two fawns in Bragg Creek will have to face the winter alone after a man in a BMW shot their mother last weekend. (Walsh family)

Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers, as well as the RCMP, are looking into the incident, but have not yet identified the driver, who could face numerous charges including careless use of a firearm.
"Why did the deer die?" Tilly asks.
"When the mom died I heard that noise ... that 'boom.' It was really, really, really loud."

Taking Out the Trash in Kimberley

By Brenda Ann Babinski, e-know.ca
posted September 30, 2015

City of Kimberley council voted unanimously September 28 to adopt the new Solid Waste Regulations and Rates Bylaw No. 2520.
One of the purposes of the new bylaw amendment is to help minimize wildlife interaction with the waste management. The amendment includes the mandatory use of bins for garbage.  Leaving trash in bags on the curb attracts small wildlife and birds that can easily get through the plastic and into the trash.  The amendment requires homeowners set out their trash no earlier than 5 a.m. on their waste collection day.
The amended bylaw covers the separation of yard waste and recyclables from normal household garbage.  This change is meant to help reduce the impact on the regional landfill by encouraging residents to recycle.
Mayor Don McCormick says the City of Kimberley will be offering educational and promotional campaigns to the residents to help them understand the changes and assist in the implementation.