Upper Mission residents fed up with destructive deer
Campaign prompted by damage to landscaping caused by growing population of deer
Apetition calling for the City of Kelowna to initiate a deer cull has been signed by 1,000 Upper Mission residents. The deer population has increased exponentially in recent years, petition organizer Ken Walker says, and the animals are causing significant damage to landscaping.
“We wanted to get 1,000 names on the petition before we approach the city on this issue, to show there’s real concern about the exploding deer population,” Walker said Monday.
It took less than a month to collect that many signatures, with 85 per cent of people who were approached being willing to put their names to the document, Walker said.
“We want the city to organize a cull, because the problem just keeps getting worse year after year,” Walker said. “A lot of us, we’re basically losing our properties to the deer.”
Most residents have tried a variety of commercially available deer-repellent products, as well as protective netting on shrubs and flowers, but such measures have been largely ineffective, Walker says.
For the past five years, the City of Cranbrook has overseen a program to cull deer that have become habituated to urban environments. City officials had a permit this year from the province to kill up to 100 deer, but only
A lot of us, we’re basically losing our properties to the deer.
Ken Walker
15 were culled.
In March, about 400 kilograms of professionally butchered meat was given to social service organizations that assist low-income individuals and families.
Walker says he plans to present the petition to city council in the coming weeks. He expects the idea to be controversial, as was an ill-fated city plan almost a decade ago to kill wild rabbits, but believes a well-managed cull is the only way to deal with the problem.