Sep 4, 2015
TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
On Sept. 2, the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society presented a quick synopsis of our objectives to the Capital Regional District’s Finance Committee as part of an application to the CRD for a grant of $35,000 for our pilot project. Several members of the CRD’s Planning, Transportation and Protective Services Committee had encouraged us to apply after our presentation to them in July.
While many members of the Finance Committee also voiced support for our work, they weren’t able to identify a current mechanism that the majority could support. Longstanding CRD policy prohibits “regional grants-in-aid”. A single exception was made in 2013 for a $1.2 million grant to the Island Corridor Foundation.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins proposed that an exception also be made for the UWSS, but that motion was defeated, however Director John Ranns (Metchosin) expressed his hope that the CRD could find ways to partner with and support the UWSS initiative financially, and Director Judy Brownoff (Saanich) invited the UWSS to apply to Saanich for a grant.
A number of members of the Finance Committee suggested that it might be time to review the CRD policy on grants-in-aid to determine whether a fund to support regional initiatives such as the UWSS pilot project should be created. Mayor Desjardins’ motion to review that policy was then passed.
NEXT STEPS
We will continue to look for ways to work with CRD directors and staff to seek creative solutions for funding.
The UWSS will also continue to seek funding and support from a variety of sources including community members, organizations, and individual municipalities who have expressed interest in working with us. Stay tuned…
Aug 30, 2015
Well, with September just around the corner, it’s time to provide an update on the progress of the UWSS over a busy summer:
SIGN CAMPAIGN
The public sign campaign to urge drivers to slow down and exercise caution at known deer crossings has been very successful. Over 250 signs have now been requested and distributed throughout Greater Victoria, with the majority in Oak Bay. New requests come in every day for signs, and a third print run is being ordered!
PERMIT APPLICATIONS
The applications for the provincial and federal permits have been submitted and are being reviewed by government officials.
Our Working Group and Science Advisory Group continue to work on the logistics of the pilot project while we wait for the permits to work their way through the government system.
SUPPORT FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Presentations were made to Oak Bay Municipal Council and the CRD Planning, Transportation and Protections Services Committee with the objectives of applying for funding, as well as seeking opportunities to work effectively together on deer management, including public education, human-deer conflict reduction and our immuno-contraception pilot project.
Oak Bay committed $5,000 to the UWSS with $2500 dependent upon receiving the necessary permits and several CRD Directors encouraged us to submit an application for a grant of $35,000. We present to the CRD Finance Committee on Sept. 2 to that end.
ASSISTANCE FROM VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteer list has grown and we are delighted that we have people offering to do everything from delivering signs and sewing deer-calming covers for the Modified Clover Traps, to using their backgrounds in biology to help with the field work – thank you everyone!
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
We continue to seek opportunities to explore ways in which we can work together with Oak Bay Council and other municipalities to reduce human-deer conflict and help our communities adapt to sharing space with wildlife;
FALL TIPS
Please continue to check our website. We will soon be providing effective tips on steps you can take during the fall rutting season so that residents, companion animals and deer all remain safe.
Thanks again to everyone for all of your support!
Aug 14, 2015
Camosun College has joined the UWSS efforts to educate drivers of the need to SLOW DOWN and DRIVE SAFELY in areas where we know deer cross – 5 “Caution Expect Deer” signs have been placed by Grounds staff on Camosun College property along Foul Bay Road, where many deer cross.
Thank you Camosun College!
It’s hard to miss the many signs that have been placed along Foul Bay, Henderson, Cedar Hill X Road, Lansdowne and Cadboro Bay Road – it has been a concerted and supported effort to reduce the vehicle-deer accidents in this area, and a huge thank you to all that have requested and placed a sign.
We have now distributed over 175 “Caution” signs, with new requests coming in every day!
Along with Oak Bay residents, citizens from other municipalities have also been requesting and placing signs – in particular, in the Rockland and Richardson areas of Victoria, and the Gordon Head and Cordova Bay Road areas of Saanich.
When drivers see these signs, it is an indication that there have likely been vehicle-deer accidents in that location at some point, and it’s important to SLOW DOWN AND SCAN AHEAD, PARTICULARLY AT DAWN AND DUSK, although deer can be out at almost any time of day.
The reality is that there are many deer crossing roads, and at this time of year there are still fawns and very young ones following behind the does, sometimes at a bit of a distance. Please drive slowly and carefully where you see “Caution – Expect Deer” signs, and wherever you know deer move across the streets.
Let’s reduce the number of accidents and keep our streets safe for all.
Aug 11, 2015
According to the Oak Bay Police and as reported by CFAX, there have been four cougar sightings reported in Oak Bay yesterday, Monday, August 10. The sightings occurred around 6:45 a.m. in the Musgrave and Dewdney Street areas. Police were unable to locate the single cougar but have put warning signs up in the nearby Uplands Park. The BC Conservation Service has been called in and is following up.
There have been single cougar sightings from time to time in Victoria for many years.
In 1992, a cougar was captured in the parking garage by the Empress Hotel. In 1989, a cougar smashed through the glass window of a downtown basement suite. In 1961, a cougar was killed in the 1400-block of Government Street and in 1926, a cougar was shot behind the Carnegie Library building on Yates Street.
Courtenay author Paula Wild (The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous), says that “… the boundary between human and cougar habitat appears to be blurring in modern times. Increasingly, humans take to the wilds for recreation. Meanwhile, young cougars, forced out of prime hunting territories by older, more experienced cats, will venture into the city to eat dogs, cats and raccoons. Not to mention deer, which are plentiful in urban areas within Victoria and other cities”.
Cougars tend to hide or flee from areas where humans are, but if you live near the vicinity where the cougar sighting took place, please keep a close eye on your pets – keep them on a leash or inside. Cougars do not like loud, sustained noises – carrying a whistle is a good idea.
In a Times Colonist article by Adrian Chamberlain in November 2013, he quotes Wild as recommending “being aware of one’s environment. If birds suddenly “start chirping” or, conversely, if it becomes unnaturally quiet — that could be a tip-off a cougar’s lurking. If confronted by a cougar, fling sticks and stones. Make yourself look large as possible by throwing up your arms. Make noise. And maintain eye contact — it’s a way of establishing dominance”.
Aug 2, 2015
Warm thanks to Animal Alliance for so generously funding a new run of signs for the UWSS.
The signs have the familiar doe and fawns crossing, but say “CAUTION – EXPECT DEER”…once again they are popping up in Oak Bay, Victoria, Saanich, and all the way out to Sooke.
The goal is to get drivers to SLOW DOWN in areas where we know deer cross – let’s keep our streets safe!
Remember to slow down, scan ahead, and when you see a doe cross, expect up to 3 fawns will follow.
Thank you Animal Alliance, and to everyone who has taken a sign.
Email [email protected] for more information.
Aug 1, 2015
One of the things that is very important to the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society is that citizens of Oak Bay and other municipalities are able to have a good understanding of our initiatives.
We continue to work on not just our immuno-contraception plan, but also on public education and human-deer conflict reduction – especially encouraging drivers to SLOW DOWN in areas where we know deer to be.
Please see our Letter to the Editor of the Oak Bay News for our most recent update!
http://www.oakbaynews.com/opinion/letters/319619441.html
Re: Council frustrated with lack of provincial aid on deer issue, (OBN July 24).
The Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society was very happy to receive $5,000 in financial support from Oak Bay council and is now looking forward to an opportunity to explore how best to work together on deer management.
The UWSS has several objectives. One main goal is to demonstrate a non-lethal alternative to lethal culls – immuno-contraception is listed as an option in the provincial document that guided the Regional Deer Management Strategy and as Alice Finall, Mayor of North Saanich and the chair of the CRD’s Planning, Transportation and Protection Services Committee, said last week, “deserves a much better chance.”
Director Vic Derman agreed with the scientific evidence-based approach of the UWSS, saying “if we are going to intelligently attempt to manage deer, we absolutely have to start out with being able to survey, identify and enumerate the population and then track what happens to that population over time.” Tagging and tracking the deer in Oak Bay, along with vaccinating the does with a contraceptive vaccine, is an important element of our program.
Another goal is safety. For instance, no one wants to hit a deer and see it suffer, or leave a fawn or two as orphans to starve – however we also don’t want to see vehicles travelling at an unsafe speed collide with a deer and cause bodily harm to the occupants or swerve at a high speed to miss a deer, and cause a more serious accident.
To that end, we have successfully initiated a sign and advertising campaign to remind people to slow down in areas where deer are known to be, and we are planning community information/education workshops in conjunction with the BCSPCA for the fall.
Deer eating gardens continues to be an issue for some. We believe we can help through ongoing public education. As a farmer, CRD director John Ranns endorsed the UWSS saying “I think, from my experience in living with deer on a day-to-day basis, that [immuno-contraception] has the best chance of success of anything I’ve seen other than fencing.”
Quite rightly, there is pressure on the province to improve supports for urban deer management. Along with providing supports for contraception plans as an alternative to divisive lethal culls, the province needs to implement much more stringent guidelines for mitigation of human-deer conflict and for ensuring public education specific to individual communities is effective, sustained and given time to make a difference.
As the CRD recognized, deer are clearly a shared responsibility and there are certain steps that municipalities will continue to be responsible for such as community engagement, human-deer conflict reduction and public education. While the pilot project that Oak Bay undertook was time consuming and costly, it’s important that deer management not now be brushed off as solely a provincial responsibility.
Along with gathering significant information from the immuno-contraception program, there are important and effective conflict-reduction steps that together, Oak Bay and the UWSS can implement.
Kristy Kilpatrick,
Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society
