An unusually mild stretch of weather recently seems to have triggered some deer in our communities to become more assertive.

Over the past two weeks, reports have come in from Penticton and Princeton citing assertive or aggressive deer conflicts while walking dogs (on leash) or enjoying the urban and semi-rural green spaces.

In particular, Does (female) become more wary, defensive and unpredictable the closer to fawning, and during the early months after fawns are born late April, May and June. This is in contrast to Bucks (male), which can become more assertive during the fall ‘rutting’ season.

In order to reduce the risk of conflict while out enjoying areas in our communities where deer are known to frequent, a few simple actions can go a long way to avoiding a negative incident with a deer.

  • Be aware – keep your eyes peeled for fawning sites, fawns, or places that deer congregate and skirt those areas or walk a distance away
  • Walk with a walking stick – this can be used in a defensive manner if a deer charges close enough to make contact
  • Keep a can of ‘dog deterrent’ (available at Canadian Tire) attached to your walking stick or a belt. It is a mild form of bear spray that will stop or hinder the attacking animal, without harmful long term effects. It is an aerosol spray jet with a 10’ trajectory
  • Strength in numbers. The more people in a group, the less likely a deer will become aggressive; keep kids close and make noise
  • Make sure your dogs are on a leash. When a deer gives chase, unleashed dogs inevitably run back to you – not a good scenario

On the home front, we can all help to reduce conflicts with deer and other wildlife:

  • Make your yard an unwelcome space; chase or move deer off your property whenever you see them. This will discourage them from using your yard as a safe haven
  • Do Not Feed any wildlife around your home including deer, coyotes, raccoons, or heaven forbid – bears
  • Take down bird feeders as deer easily access the seed, and what they don’t eat they spill all over the ground which attracts, coyotes, bears, and other critters you don’t want in your backyard
  • Make sure pet food and domestic livestock feed e.g., chicken feed,  is not left open on the porch or accessible
  • Keep fruit trees tidy, removing any fallen fruit and picked as soon as fruit ripens

Report all aggressive wildlife to the RAPP Line at 1-877-952-7277.  Doing this helps to map hot spots and can inform the WildSafeBC Community Co-ordinator where to focus awareness campaigns.

More information on wildlife can be found at: www.wildsafebc.com  or www.rdos.bc.ca

For further information, please contact Zoe Kirk, RDOS WildSafeBC Community Co-ordinator, at (250) 492-0237 or [email protected].

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