Been attacked by a deer lately?
If you’re waiting for a punch line, there isn’t one. It’s no laughing matter, as an elderly woman found out in the Waterton Park townsite recently.
A mule deer chased her and her dog into a frigid lake, where she suffered serious hypothermia.
The deer in the national park in southwestern Alberta have grown so accustomed to humans that they’ve become fearless, and are now playing what appears to observers to be a game: chasing humans and their pets.
One woman, who claims she’s been chased numerous times by the mule deer in the park, said her toddler was harassed by a menacing deer until she whacked it over the head with a stick.
The problem has become serious enough that the townsite is now patrolled daily by a woman with border collies, chasing deer away.
It’s wonderful to watch wildlife in an urban setting, but public ignorance has clouded the fact that these are indeed wild creatures that act on instinct or learned behaviour.
Hand-feeding deer salted chips to capture that perfect, close-up tourist photo has conditioned deer in Waterton to not fear humans — but that doesn’t mean they are domesticated. They are still wild and dangerous.
Humans can co-exist with wildlife — at a distance. We must also respect the needs of wildlife by preserving natural habitat and understanding that human encroachment can have its consequences.
The City of Red Deer is addressing that reality by rewriting its small animal nuisance policy to deal with wildlife encounters along its park system trails.
Last year, an aggressive beaver attacked dogs swimming in one of Three Mile Bend’s off-leash ponds. A beaver was eventually shot and killed by an unknown person.
The beaver was acting instinctively, possibly protecting its young, in attacking the dogs and killing one.
Obviously, shooting the beaver was not the answer. The expedient and wise solution would have been to relocate the animal.
The new policy dealing with small nuisance animals, developed by the city’s biologists, looks at how to better manage beavers, skunks, badgers and other smaller members of the wildlife community along the trails.
Policy changes include closing the off-leash dog park at Three Mile Bend if there is a major wildlife issue, such as with beavers. The matter will be dealt with through relocation or euthanization.
“The focus of the program now is really around public safety and the safety of park users, as well as balancing that with some of the damage that (is done by tree-chomping beavers and the like),” said city Parks Department superintendent Trevor Poth.
But the nuisance policy must be coupled with an education campaign to encourage humans using the park system to avoid wildlife encounters. Pamphlets, ads and programs for children and frequent adult users (like those who regularly use Three Mile Bend to walk their dogs) would be useful.
Attention should also be drawn to the moose and deer living in the river and creek valleys, where many of the trails are situated.
We need to remind ourselves to give these creatures their proper distance.
Rick Zemanek is an Advocate editor.