What to do with the deer?

Hi!
If you listened to the show last night, you'll know that I finally decided to voice my own opinion about London's deer "problem" and the surrounding issues concerning Sifton Bog. This whole deer "problem" surfaced a few years ago, and was initially brought to the city as a proposal for a cull. It has now turned into a "save the bog" campaign. The switch, in my opinion was based on appealing to people's emotions. A cull isn't very popular, but the bog is. The count this year actually showed that the deer numbers have been naturally declining - from around 52-55 for the last few years down to around 35 this year. The way the number is determined is that a specific protocol is followed, where there are volunteers posted in the bog, and they count the number of deer that they see, add up the numbers, and there you have it. Well, this year, when the numbers were presented to council, and found to be lower, it was proposed that instead of accepting the count as they have always done, someone proposed that they inflate the number back to last year's level, because some of the deer may have been sleeping this year, and have been missed. This was accepted as a good idea by council, and so I, myself am not sure why they bothered to waste any money at all on the count, since they just made it up, anyways, but I guess this is the way it works, so lets just continue the discussion!
I shared with my listeners my unique perspective on the issue. When I was a child, in grade two, we moved to Baffin Island, we lived there for 4 years, then when I was in grade six, we lived in the western arctic until I finished grade 11. During this time, I was obviously exposed to a completely different culture than those who have lived in southern Ontario or even south of the 60 parallel their whole lives.
When we lived on Baffin Island, we spent two of those years in a small Inuit community of about 450 people then called Lake Harbour, now called Kimmirut . Click on the link if you're so inclined! Everyone hunted - this is where our meat came from. I was exposed to hunting, and the butchering, eating, and using of the animal for many other uses. This never upset me or bothered me. I ate the meat (caribou, mostly - didn't like the seal or polar bear!). I was never troubled by the fact that we were eating an animal.
Then, when we lived in the western arctic, Fort Smith to be specific, we weren't allowed out one recess because a group of men had to cull a pack of dogs that had been hanging out by the school yard. We watched out the windows as men on snowmobiles chased the dogs through the back of the school yard, shooting them. This was a little harder to take, but still, I was not overly upset or troubled by it, because I understood that these dogs were a wild pack that were hanging out there because they were looking for food. Most of these dogs were not pets, they were strays that had come from sled dogs that had escaped, and strays that had been left to fend for themselves.
And, my third experience from the north that I relate to this deer issue is back in the eastern arctic, I was in grade 5. I was watching out my bedroom window as a man who lived a little ways in front of the house tried to kill a single stray dog with a bow and arrow. I watched, for a long time, as he repeatedly shot the dog with arrows, and the dog, yelping and howling ran away only to be shot at again by this man. Finally the dog slinked off, arrows protruding from it's body, leaving a trail of blood. I assumed he continued following it until it was dead, but I stopped being able to see. What I do know is that this one incident stands out in my mind because of the cruel and prolonged death that this animal suffered. I didn't tell that I had seen this happened, and when my mother, knowing something had upset me, finally forced my to tell her, my biggest fear was that this man had known I witnessed this murder, and was going to kill me as well.
So, while I was fine with animals being killed for food, and for safety, I was not fine with the one I saw being killed "bow and arrow" style.
How does this relate to the deer in Sifton Bog?
These deer do not need to be killed for food, they pose no threat to human safety - ah, here I get some argument about deer - car collision. ( I invite those of you leaning towards that argument to investigate for yourself to find out how many of these collisions actually occur in the immediate vicinity of Sifton Bog vs. other areas of the city.), and that leaves as the main option being considered to control the deer population a cull using bows and arrows. The justification for using bow and arrow comes from the fact that it would be too upsetting to residents to hear gun shots. I guess they'd better make sure none of their children look out of their bedroom windows, and get a glimpse of what I saw as a child.
Are the deer actually ruining the bog?
I don't know - they have been doing studies for a while now, and instead of waiting for those to finish, here we are talking about a cull again. Not to mention the money they have and are spending on this avenue only to jump right back into the cull debate
The main thing having a negative impact on the bog, in my opinion is human encroachment. The city allowed the bog to be surrounded by development - what is the bog's name now? Runoff from streets and parking lots enter the bog, flooding it with things like road salt. Stopping and changing the natural patterns of animals that would normally go into and through the bog., etc..
I just hope that these people can be stopped from allowing the same thing to happen in another treasure we have in the London area, Meadowlilly woods. Where a group has been fighting a Wal-Mart development. See Friends of Meadowlilly Woods
This deer issue is actually a very common one across North America, and I feel like there has been too much time and energy spent debating one issue when the evidence is copious and consistent.
Culling does not work - it is not effective at reducing deer herd numbers over time - it is something that needs to be done repeatedly. It is one of the more costly methods of trying to control deer.
I think that if we were effective in convincing city hall that it was #1 more cost effective, #2 more humane, and #3 a much more effective, long term management strategy to stop killing all of London's feral cats, we should be able to convince them of the same things regarding the deer - who are much more "appealing" to people than feral cats are.
There are just too many other options available to choose the mos barbaric one.
Thanks for listening (and reading)
-Lisa
Love your pet.