The dear deer

Dateline yesterday. We have a deer problem in Victoria; actually we have a wild-life problem of sorts. Being a city, albeit a small one, there aren’t any real animal predators lurking in the bushes. We do have hawks, eagles, turkey vultures, the odd cougar and bear, but not much to speak of. And domestic cats and dogs are restricted to leashes and pens so aren’t doing much hunting either. So we have wild animal pests and the full spectrum of reactions to that, from “they're so cute” to “shoot them”. Our rabbits have made national news coverage, or rather the great debate about what to do about them has. Over the years people have purchased rabbits for pets and then abandoned them at UVic or the hospitals' grounds – nice grassy public areas where Fluffy can fend for him or herself. Of course Fluffy was him AND her and quickly became hundreds of cute but destructive wild rodents. You would laugh to hear the various plans that have been floated, and tried, to control the ever growing population. Get this: UVic has actually trapped and neutered a bunch of rabbits (can you imagine the cost?), and I don’t know how many hundreds were approved and transferred to a refuge in Texas (anyone who wants to emigrate to the USA just has to buy a rabbit costume). Another batch got sent up Island but 30 of them escaped from their new home and were promptly shot by the neighbouring farmer who for some reason didn’t want holes and burrows endangering her horses’ safety! And despite the Ivory Tower, I believe UVic has even culled a few, (cull is a VERY bad word in some quarters).

Then there are the deer; the dear deer as I usually call them. The deer population density in Victoria is considerably higher than the density in the wild, and why not. We are a city of gardens and animal lovers. The deer have adapted very well to urban life and can be seen wandering down the street, hand in hand, out for a family stroll of a Sunday afternoon. They see Victoria as one huge salad bar and if you were paying attention you noted that there are no predators. So we are also becoming a city of fences as we try to protect our hard-earned gardens from the marauders, who, by the way, can jump an 8 foot fence from a standing start. Apparently what they can’t see they aren’t interested in so don’t think you can erect a decorative or see through fence, it’s got to be solid. And the deer are getting aggressive. There are documented stories of people being chased and dogs being attacked. It is the destruction of gardens rather than the danger of Lyme disease or attack that has area residents dusting off their metaphoric shotguns; "mess with Rover but don't mess with my roses" might be the rallying cry of a despairing citizenry. But oh yeah, it's Victoria. Wait sitting down for any decision or action, and don't mention the C word.

So back to yesterday and look at this ‘lovely’ guy taking a rest from a hard minute of foraging. I took the photos from the kitchen window.

Don’t even get me started on racoons or Canada geese, but on the up-side we don’t have skunks. Yet.

That's our famous bamboo in the foreground.