Dec 22, 2016
Last year, Cairine Green (Oak Bay former Councillor and current Heritage Committee Chair) wrote a lovely piece on the mythology of deer. We are re-posting it here as a gift to all of our supporters and readers, with warm thanks to Cairine.
Wishing all of you a peaceful and kind holiday season.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF DEER
During this peaceful and joyous Christmas season, many of us use images of deer as part of our seasonal decorations, with many illuminated deer adorning front yards.
The irony is obvious. We use the image of deer to decorate winter Christmas scenes but as wildlife, deer are often vilified as pests, nuisance animals or as predatory vegetarians that destroy urban landscapes and rural farmland. They are hunted and culled while their natural habitats are continuously destroyed, leaving them few options to successfully avoid conflict with human activity and settlement.
When asked to describe deer in positive terms, people often use words such as “gentle,” “beautiful” or “graceful.” These adjectives are not surprising given how deer are depicted in world history and mythology.
Deer are symbols of majesty and beauty and have roots in ancient history. Deer have for centuries represented the embodiment of peace, grace and gentleness and their image is used by many cultures to symbolize love, beauty and caring.
In many visual and written illustrations, human beings and deer appear as close companions and in some cases, humans adopt the face or antlers of a deer, images more common in stories of war, invasion and other human strife. Deer also have a supernatural significance and appear as apparitions of divinity and in legends of spiritual awakening.
The mythology and symbolism of deer are found in histories of such people as the Druids and Celts but deer also have meaning for ancient and modern peoples around the world. As a beautiful mammal, their image is significant to cultural, spiritual and supernatural events and central to myths, stories and folklore.
Deer also play an important role in world religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, and Judaism. They are prominent in Indigenous spiritual beliefs and cultural practices where reverence and respect for deer are expressed, particularly for the stag (male deer). The stag is most often depicted by a variety of cultures as bold, swift, a leader, strong and skilled, a moving symbol of power.
Perhaps knowing the historical significance of deer throughout world cultural and religious practices, it is at Christmastime then that the image of deer may evoke in all of us feelings of peace, joy and kindness.
Dec 17, 2016
A lot has happened in both Oak Bay and Esquimalt since our last post, and we apologize for not updating our blog sooner – it’s been busy!
ESQUIMALT
On Monday, December 12, Nyberg Wildland Consulting presented to Esquimalt Council on the results of a public survey distributed to Esquimalt residents regarding urban deer in their community. The report was very favourably received by Council, with a number of councilors commenting that it provided them with extremely helpful data.
As a result of the report, Esquimalt Council is now going to explore how best to conduct a deer count, and how to proceed with public education. The UWSS looks forward to supporting Esquimalt with these initiatives and have indicated we are hopeful that we will be able to help with their planning.
A big thank you to our volunteers who helped deliver the 1,100 questionnaires to the Esquimalt community! Through your efforts, 47% of those who received the survey responded. This is an exceptionally high return rate!
Link to report
OAK BAY
At a meeting of Oak Bay Council in November, Councilor Tara Ney presented a motion to Oak Bay Council: “That Council apply to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations for a matching grant of up to $20,000 to implement a deer management strategy substantially in the form of the program and application prepared by the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society.”
The motion was seconded by Councilor Eric Zhelka, and passed 6-1. With a very tight timeline to form the application, we submitted the 15 page document to Oak bay which was then forwarded to PUDOC, the administrators of the cost-share program.
The application is divided into two phases.
Phase 1 addresses the ecology of deer. Before deer reduction can occur, we need to do a deer count to establish a baseline of population numbers. An accurate modelling of the deer inventory would also include determining roaming patterns. This will involve radio collaring and the GPS tracking of approximately 10 deer.
Phase 1 also includes further developing a partnership with a supplier for the immuno-contraceptive vaccine.
We will post our revised application to the province as soon as it has been approved.
Phase 2 involves the vaccination of does with the immune-contraceptive to prevent fertility. More information will be available on this process after the Phase 1, research component has been completed. This phase of the project will take place in late spring or early summer of 2017.
There have been headlines and reports in the media that the funding was rejected by the province, however that’s not accurate. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has indicated that the application is still being considered and are holding back the funding approval until the UWSS can provide more information on some aspects of the application. Our Science Advisory Group is currently in discussions with the province to re-profile the funding application to address those questions and concerns that resulted from the application.
Oak Bay will be re-submitting the proposal to the province in early January, and we are confident that we will be able to move forward with phase 1 of our application shortly thereafter.
We are pleased to be a co-operative partner with the District of Oak Bay in this exciting initiative!
Oct 5, 2016
Esquimalt is demonstrating real leadership in deer management and is modeling best practices with the implementation of a public survey developed by an independent scientist/consultant.
It is extremely important that deer management be approached scientifically, methodically, and with rigorous methodology. The survey on deer in Esquimalt is exacting and comprehensive and will provide Esquimalt Council with excellent information and data to inform their next steps.
The survey is a first step in engaging the community as a whole and begins where deer management should – at the beginning. Next steps could include public education based on information collected from the survey and deer counts to establish population trends and movements. Read the Esquimalt media release.
The UWSS has been very happy to provide logistical support to Esquimalt in the delivery of this survey, with volunteers delivering 1,100 surveys in a random pattern designed by the consultant.
Esquimalt residents are asked to return the survey in the addressed and stamped envelope or drop it off at Esquimalt Municipal Hall. Residents who receive a hard copy also have the option of completing the survey online using the unique designated number in the upper right-hand corner of their survey.
Learn more about the Esquimalt survey in the Victoria News.
May 21, 2016
It’s fawn season, and there are three important things to remember.
1. When you see a deer crossing the road, expect that one, two or even three fawns will likely follow. Stop and wait before proceeding slowly. Try to warn oncoming traffic by flashing your headlights or using hand signals.
Speed is the most common factor in wildlife-vehicle collisions. In areas where you know deer to be, or when you see a sign indicating deer are in that area:
- SLOW DOWN!
- Scan ahead, and side-to-side.
- If you see one deer cross the road, expect more to follow.
- Watch for deer coming out from between parked cars, especially by golf courses and green spaces.
2. If you’re walking your dog and see a doe, assume there is at least one fawn nearby. Please respect the doe’s maternal instincts. She’s a wild animal protecting her young and she may see your dog as a potential predator. Consider turning around and going another route with your dog. Or cross the street giving the doe a wide berth and proceed with caution, keeping your eye on the doe’s body language. And be aware that the presence of your dog might cause a deer to bolt into oncoming traffic.
3. If you see a fawn, leave it alone! Every year healthy fawns are mistakenly thought to be orphaned, but the mother deer leaves her baby alone for periods of time and will return for the fawn. To find out what you should and shouldn’t do if you find a baby deer, check out these tips from Wild Arc.
This year’s “Caution – Expect Deer” lawn sign blitz starts this week – if you’d like a sign, please email us.
May 8, 2016
Several deer mistakenly recently ended up in the heart of busy downtown Winnipeg. Patience, respect and compassion were demonstrated by the conservation officers, police and Winnipeg residents as the city paused to help the young deer find their way down to the riverbank by the Legislature Buildings.
For years, Winnipeg has had many more deer than Oak Bay or Victoria – over 500 carcasses were collected last year, as a result of vehicle-deer collisions and natural causes. Many of the urban deer in Winnipeg are located in Charleswood, an area with similar features to the Uplands in Oak Bay.
Through a values- based survey conducted by leading Canadian urban deer/ungulate expert Dr. Erin McCance in 2009, it was determined that despite the large urban deer population, over 70% of Winnipeg residents prefer public awareness as the main method of deer management.
Article: Downtown Winnipeg deer herd rounded up, guided back to river
Mar 29, 2016
The UWSS expanded on its five-point program for deer management in Oak Bay at a Committee of the Whole meeting on March 21, 2016. The long-term best practices plan includes a values-based survey of Oak Bay residents, which would provide important information on issues and attitudes in the community concerning deer.
It is important to note that this values-based survey has already been developed by independent experts in this field and would be administered and interpreted by independent experts. The UWSS proposed that the survey be run in partnership with the municipality and university scientists. Information from a values-based survey would provide important information that would guide our elected representatives in making informed decisions on deer management.
The UWSS has, from the beginning, advocated for a scientific approach to deer management, and that includes collecting information on the values of the community and the number of deer in our municipality.
For the past year, the UWSS has advocated for and offered assistance with public education, deer counts to estimate population trends, and an immuno-contraception plan that could potentially see a reduction in the birth of fawns as early as spring of 2017.
This is a scientifically sound, fiscally responsible and humane deer management plan and is consistent with provincial advice. Please see our presentation to Council here, including our proposed budget.
The survey is a first step in engaging the community as a whole and begins where deer management should – at the beginning. Next steps could include public education based on information collected from the survey and deer counts to establish population trends and movements. Read the 
