Deer in B.C.'s Interior still getting tangled up near residential areas
CBC
A Kamloops, B.C., buck with garden netting on his head is the latest in a list of Interior deer that have been inadvertently decorating themselves over the last few years.
Sally Cornies, who lives in the city's Lower Sahali neighbourhood, says she's noticed the male deer wandering around her home yard from time to time, but last Friday, she found his head draped in pink and green mesh.
"[It] looks like garden netting or Christmas decorations," Cornies said. "It was all through his antlers, and it was dangling down beside him and underneath him."
Over the past several years, Rudolphs with tangled-up antlers have been making an appearance in and around several B.C. Interior municipalities.
One of the earliest is a Prince Rupert deer spotted in 2017 who earned the monitor Hammy for the purple hammock on his head. Hammy became a celebrity in the North Coast community of 12,000 people and wound up with a Facebook group where residents shared their sightings.
More recently, in November 2020, residents in Invermere in southeastern B.C. found a mule deer with holiday lights on his antlers. The animal was later freed from his tangled-up state with the help of local conservation officers.
Cornies says it's a source of amusement for some but not for her.
"When he [Kamloops deer] tried to walk, he would step on it and stop — it was just the saddest thing to see."
Last November, the B.C. SPCA warned the public against leaving any Halloween or Christmas decorations outside near wilderness areas from mid-October to December, the mating season for deer. It said bucks may get tangled in the decorations when rubbing their antlers on trees or the ground.
The animal welfare organization asked people who spot an entangled deer to call conservation officers, who may be able to help sedate and free the animal.
Cornies says she immediately called the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for help, but the officer in charge says it's best to leave the deer alone for now, given that it's in a residential neighbourhood where it could become startled by efforts to help it and get injured running away.
WildsafeBC program co-ordinator Vanessa Isnardy agrees, advising residents not to try to help it either.
"You could easily get gored by the antlers or damaged by their very sharp hooves," she told host Shelley Joyce on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops.
"The deer would like to be free of the entanglement, but it doesn't realize that we're there trying to help it."
Police in Metro Vancouver are warning drivers to remain attentive, even in a self-driving vehicle, after ticketing a woman who "appeared to be literally asleep at the wheel" on Highway 1.
Some century-old churches on P.E.I. are renovating to become more accessible, which includes updates to accommodate many different kinds of needs.
Toronto police headed to school zones Monday as part of a safety blitz following March Break.
WARNING: This story details experiences at residential schools.
The N.W.T. Coroner Service has identified the Nunavut man who died in RCMP custody in Yellowknife last Thursday.
The Liberal government's nominee to be the next fiscal watchdog insists she'll run an independent and non-partisan ship — even though her candidacy has created a political rift.
Two years after Calgary city council held its longest public hearing in the city's history, another marathon session began on Monday to tackle the same contentious subject: blanket rezoning.
Quebec resident Antoine Forest was one of the pilots killed in the Sunday night crash at New York's LaGuardia airport, according to Radio-Canada sources.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's cellphone records took centre stage as the provincial legislature resumed sitting Monday for the first time since December, with the opposition accusing the premier of having something to hide.
The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation hosted its annual heritage awards, recognizing Islanders who help maintain the island's culture and traditions.
A new independent review of Yukon’s education system is receiving pushback from advocates.
The RCMP has not recruited enough new officers or effectively assigned its members to meet its operational needs, according to a new report from the auditor general — raising concerns about public safety across the country.
Oil prices fell Monday morning after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold off on striking Iran’s energy infrastructure amid productive talks between the two countries.