What about the Black Tail deer?

While the black tail is not a subject of this deer management plan, they should be tagged so that an estimate of their population density can be ascertained.

How do you distinguish between the two deer types?

(Images: Sally Sexsmith)

Do Fallow and Black Tail deer cross breed?

No.

What will a Fallow Deer extermination program look like?

• Evaluate the most appropriate and effective extermination methods based on ecological considerations, animal welfare, and safety.
• Consider employing a combination of methods, such as trapping and controlled hunting, depending on the local site context.
• Ensure that the chosen methods are humane, efficient, and align with best practices.

What about safety during an extermination program?

The plan will prioritize safety during operations to protect personnel and minimize risks to the public. This will include establishing safety protocols and guidelines for the culling team including personal protective equipment and clearly communicating safety measures to all involved parties and ensure their compliance throughout the process.

What will happen after the extermination program to ensure that no fallow deer remain?

Post-program assessments will be done to determine the impact on the fallow deer population. This should be done with a drone survey of the island.

Monitoring of the fallow deer population will take place in the subsequent years to prevent re-establishment and take prompt action if fallow deer are again recorded.

Why not allow more hunting?

While hunting is currently allowed on Mayne and has been an important tool in managing the deer population, it is not been sufficient to eradicate the fallow deer. An extermination program is the most effective method. However, it could be necessary in certain areas of the island to track and hunt using rifles but only licensed and insured local and First Nations hunters should be used and only on properties that are legal for hunting and only with the owner’s written approval.

The provincial hunting regulations do need to be changed to allow rifles and not just shotguns and crossbows. The MIDMS is advocating for this change.

Why not just give them birth control?

While this has been used in other jurisdictions, it has not eradicated the deer population and on Mayne it would take many years for the existing deer population to die off.

What about introducing predators?

Cougars would pose other significant problems on Mayne.

Why not catch and then release off island?

This would only export our problem to another location.

What about using the deer meat for food?

Provincial regulations prohibit the sale of fallow deer meat and the government is concerned that if this was allowed, invasive species would be introduced elsewhere with the sole purpose of creating a commercial market.

How can local islanders help?

Through Citizen Science. People living on Mayne Island possess valuable local knowledge about fallow deer populations, including their distribution and behavior. By engaging citizens in data collection, their expertise can be leveraged to enhance accuracy and promote community ownership of wildlife conservation initiatives.

Staying informed and involved by helping to promote the work of the MIDMS.  Send us an email at info@maynedeer.ca

Will experts be involved?

Yes. To ensure the success of the management plan, collaboration with experts and research institutions is crucial. This collaboration will provide scientific expertise and technical guidance.

Is it illegal to feed deer?

Yes, it is illegal to feed wildlife and anybody feeding deer should be required to stop.

What do you say to those people who oppose killing deer?

Having too many deer is also bad for the deer. As preferred food for the deer becomes scarce, especially in dry summers and cold winters, they are forced to eat less nutritious plants and their health suffers, causing them to be in poor condition and hence susceptible to disease, parasites, and extremes of weather.

Highly concentrated deer populations also have higher rates of disease transmission than would occur under the lower densities of an in-balance population, one that would historically have been kept in balance by large predators such as cougars and wolves.

The deer population has exploded on Mayne because of human intervention, causing terrible environmental destruction and harming the deer too.

Deer swim, so don’t we need to worry about deer moving among the islands?

Yes, this has already happened with fallow deer spotted on Galiano and Saturna. If we don’t eliminate our fallow deer population it is likely that some will eventually migrate to Vancouver Island creating a bigger problem for the environment, agriculture, and the economy.

How long will it take to begin to address the issue?

This depends on when the provincial government commits to meaningful collaboration and funding becomes available.

Is the MIDMS working with Parks Canada and the local Indigenous communities?

We’ve met provincial ministry staff from Agriculture, Environment, and also with Parks Canada and the CRD.  We hope to work with the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council.  

Every time humans try to fix a problem in the environment, they screw it up.  Why do you think we won’t just do this again?

We know that fallow deer are causing real damage, and it would be irresponsible to not try to deal with the problem.  It was a human-created problem, so it needs to be a human-created solution.