Edmundston asks citizens to stop feeding deer

The City of Edmundston is the latest New Brunswick municipality to take action against nuisance deer.

It issued a statement against feeding wild animals Tuesday night and also plans to put up signs and send out brochures to discourage the practice.

"It became a concern for many citizens that came to the city," said Mayor Cyrille Simard.

Simard said deer feeding is a bit of an issue all over the city, but a group of citizens from northEdmundstontook their concerns to city hall.

"Some people were able to take pictures of 25 to 30 deer on their property some mornings," Simard said.

City officials have been looking into the matter since early spring, he said.

It seems the population has been growing, but the food is drawing deer from the woods closer to humans.- Biologist Joe Kennedy

They foundfeeding wild animalsattracts predators, spreads the risk of Lyme diseaseand increases the number of motor vehicle accidents, although no specific local data has been provided.

The mayor said council opted not to impose a bylaw to ban feeding because that would rely on complaints from the public for enforcement and might cause conflicts between neighbours.

He said the city is trying to take a balanced approach because some people want the feeding to stop right away to protect their flower or vegetable gardens and others favour a gradual change, for the sake of the deer.

Key source of food

Sylvain Caron falls into the second camp. He's head of the local chapter of the Quality Deer Management Association, a conservation group.

Caron said he has noticed a lot of people feeding deer in the Iroquois River valley and said it's been going on for eight or more years. He worries if that were to suddenly stop, the deer may not make it through the winter.

Provincial deer biologist Joe Kennedy agrees, while supporting the province's general policy against deer feeding.

"We have multi-generations of deer that are relying on this food source now and it's going to take a little while for the deer to readjust to go back to natural food sources," he said.

Kennedy recommendedputting less food out over time, especially when the snow starts melting.

Only buck hunting

Due to concerns about the deer population health, there have been no permits issued for antlerless deer in the area for many years, said Kennedy.

But there is a three-week bow hunting season for bucks, followed by a two-week season with firearms.

The deer harvest in Edmundston's wildlife management zone (Zone 2), fell 5 per cent from 2016 to 2017, said Kennedy.

After last winter's harsh conditions, he expects it will fall 10 per cent this year.

But Kennedy still believes the long-term population trend in the area has reversed.

"I think we're starting to understand that there are healthy deer populations up there. It seems the population has been growing, but the food is drawing deer from the woods closer to humans," he said.

Kennedy acknowledged deer feeding is popular throughout the region.

"The forest rangers in the area have surveyed and GPSed all of the known feeding sites and it's abundant all through Edmundston down to Grand Falls, Saint-Lonard, all the way up to Nictau, going through the Riley Brook country," he said.

Feed put out by people has become such an important food source, said Kennedy, that some traditional deer wintering areas have largely been abandoned.