When Lori King moved to Haliburton in 2019, she said she was told not to feed the deer.
“I was here two days and they said ‘you won’t be very popular if you feed the deer.’ I thought, wow, these people are brutal,” she says with a laugh. She said she was sent literature on how bad feeding is for deer and thought, “‘alright, I don’t want to make any enemies right away’.”
She didn’t feed – until a young deer showed up at her back door with an injured leg, followed by what she presumed was its mother, also hurt
She calls up a photo on her laptop, cooing, “oh my God, he is too cute.”
She said she called the Ministry of Natural Resources for advice. She claims she was told, by possibly a volunteer, 50 per cent of infant deer die in winter without feeding and she could do so responsibly. She said she was also advised once she started, she could not stop. Even on vacation, she had to ensure the deer were fed when she was away.
Today, she said no one at the MNR would admit to giving such advice.
However, King said she stopped feeding this past summer, and as soon as Dysart et al council started talking about a ban. However, she said the young deer showed up last week with another injury and, “he’s not going to survive unless he gets a bit of help…”
Referencing the do not feed petition, King said some people didn’t sign it because they plan to continue.
She said she won’t be able to feed as she is known after making a delegation to council, but says people around still will.
She thinks council is short-sighted and does not know anything about deer. She said she’s been studying them since COVID.
“This is not going to work. People will feed them at night so they can get away with it and it’s going to increase the collisions because they’ll run from house to house like little trick or treaters. I see when my neighbour shuts up shop, they all come here, and I just think there’s a better approach to this.”
Asked for suggestions, King says, “stick with their plan to not ban it this winter – and rely on the media to really educate people.”
She said if the total ban goes ahead, deer will starve to death in town. “It’s the abruptness of it. I cannot believe that people are OK with them starving to death. I can’t wrap my head around it.”
Asked for other ideas, she said people could make their gardens less appealing or put up small, electrical fences.
She adds, “I want to think outside the box. Get the town… both sides together.
“There has been some success leading deer out of towns. If we all get on board with this. It will require discipline from a lot of deer lovers who are in areas where they should not feed. They just have to reject them and let the people on the outskirts take care of it. I could sign up for that plan if someone told me they’re not all going to starve to death.” She said the feeders could be exempted from the bylaw and given a permit.
She agrees with the anti-deer feeders it isn’t the deer’s doing. She said cottagers came up during COVID and bought deer feed locally. She said people worked on elaborate gardens.
“You don’t think the deer are going to miss that tragically… this is catastrophic… we don’t know what will happen.”
King said she is planning to move somewhere where she does not have neighbours, and can feed the deer.
“I know I’m going to fail. Another lame one will show up and I’ll be on my third glass of wine and I will be emptying my fridge for them. I know it as surely as I know my own name.”
