Longueuil mayor threatened over deer
A Longueuil story: finding Michel-Chartrand park overrun with deer this season, that city announced it would be culling 15 of them and sending the meat to food banks. Now Longueuil mayor Sylvie Parent is receiving threats. TVA says it’s likely that Longueuil created the problem by having feeding stations for the deer.
dwgs 10:54 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Wait, they fed the deer and now they have to do something to control the deer population? And what do the anti-cull people suggest? That they put out more food to keep them from damaging the trees in the park? Gee, I wonder what will happen then? It’s a miracle we’ve survived this long as a species. Perhaps one day the deer will take over.
Raymond Lutz 11:39 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
@dwgs, post Anthropocene? My money’s on giant and supra sentient immortal jellyfish.
dwgs 11:48 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
I, for one, welcome etc.
Michael Black 12:04 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Aren’t jellyfish the “Borg collective”?
Blork 12:12 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
I’m really torn over this. While I understand the reasons for it, I walk in that park almost every day, and see the deer daily, right up close. As in, every single day I’m a metre away from a doe or six, looking right into their big doe eyes. So yes, I understand why people are upset about the cull (although threatening the mayor is just stupid and unnecessary). There’s a protest on Saturday at 2PM, and a bunch of petitions, etc. I’ll likely just sadly accept it.
Kate 12:12 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
If we went away, in a couple of million years North America would be populated with an intelligent species descended from raccoons, some of them worshipping the Trash God and others maintaining that the Trash God doesn’t exist.
Blork 12:15 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
…because that’s really what we need right now; A SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENTS!
LOL, yes I’m being dramatic, but those deer are like pets to people who walk in the park regularly. It’s like finding out there will be a cull of puppies. (See item above about COVID-19 related depression and self-medication.)
Kate 12:17 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Could the deer be trapped and at least released somewhere further from town? Or is the idea that they’re so accustomed to people that they wouldn’t do well in a random forest with no supportive handouts?
Blork 12:27 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Apparently the problem with trapping and moving is that the deer in that park have ticks that aren’t found in abundance elsewhere, so there is a fear of spreading the parasite. (Hey, couldn’t they “delouse” them?) Also, the official line is “it would stress the deer.” What, more stress than a bullet in the head?
There was also talk of allowing limited hunting in the park but that was shut down quickly. FFS the park is surrounded by housing and is full of people. That would be like allowing hunting in Parc Angrignon or Parc Mont-Royal. Jeez, who thought that would be a good idea?
dwgs 13:23 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
It was a bad decision to encourage the deer by feeding them in the first place. Wildlife are not pets and some sort of problem was inevitable. In the wild predators and food supply keep the population in check but with an absence of predators and unlimited food this was bound to be a disaster. Look on the bright side, those who are culled will have led a happy and well fed life and will likely be taken out quickly and painlessly. Better than starving to death or being chased down by wolves or coyotes.
Kate 13:24 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
That’s what Longueuil needs – wolves and coyotes. Maybe some bobcats.
dwgs 13:25 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Bobcats are too small to take down a deer. Cougars!!
Kate 13:28 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Google thinks a bobcat can kill a deer. Certainly they could kill fawns.
dwgs 13:51 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Most bobcats (lynx where I come from) are about the size of a small to medium size dog, about 25 or 30 lbs. I wouldn’t want to meet the one that would take on an adult deer.
Kate 13:55 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
OK dwgs, we’ll put in the order for half a dozen cougar for Longueuil.
MarcG 13:58 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Sell tickets and people will feel better about only having to deal with Covid and not being eaten alive?
CE 14:56 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
They were talking about this on the radio this morning. The problem with moving them elsewhere is that, according to the person being interviewed, more than half the deer will quickly die in their new habitat. Apparently some of the people against this are proposing introducing coyotes to give them a natural predator. I assume none of those people have lived in close proximity to coyotes or else they definitely would not have proposed it. If they do end up going through with the cull, I hope the deer are at least eaten.
Blork 14:59 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Introducing coyotes is an even dumber idea than allowing hunting, especially if the “overpopulation” is fewer than 40 deers. (Besides, it’s only a matter of time before coyotes show up on their own.)
JS 15:43 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
How are the deer populations in the parks at the antipodes of the island managed? Are they regularly culled on the QT? You hear stories from time to time about coyotes, but who’s ever actually seen one?
CE 15:48 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
I grew up in the country and could regularly hear coyotes howling at night and it wasn’t uncommon to hear about small livestock or pets being killed by them. That said, I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually seen them.
dwgs 15:51 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
I know an old lady who swallowed a fly…
Kate 16:39 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
JS, it turned out that a lot of the coyote sightings reported last year were of a single animal, and sightings in the north end dropped off in mid-2019. I’ve never seen one.
JS 17:43 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
Kate – my real question was about how the deer populations in the RDP/PAT nature park & golf courses and in the west island are managed. I’m guessing excess animals are just quietly removed from time to time.
Kate 18:03 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
JS, I’m pretty sure they must be, although not announced to the public. There are deer on both ends of the island, and no natural predators around, except us.
Chris 19:55 on 2020-11-12 Permalink
>some of them worshipping the Trash God and others maintaining that the Trash God doesn’t exist.
And of course the former would be killing the latter for crimes such as drawing pictures of trash cans. 🙂
Su 12:38 on 2020-11-13 Permalink
The question is; How did those fauna end up in a park surrounded by residential development with no way out?