The City has a healthy population of deer that live and travel within the City’s ravines and wooded areas. They can be spread over several hundred acres depending on the season, sex of the deer and the quality of its habitat.
- Deer are most active at dusk and dawn
- In the summer, deer build up fat reserves for winter by consuming up to four kilograms of green plant material daily
- In the winter, deer ‘yard up’ or group together in larger units to stay warm and protected
- They will stay near food and water sources to help preserve energy
- Deer are very strong and can swim long distances. They run at speeds up to 50 km/h and can jump as high as three meters.
Feeding deer can hurt them
It is important not to feed deer as it can cause problems to them and other wildlife around them.
- Feeding deer creates large, concentrated populations that overburden the habitat. Bucks will rub their antlers against trees to mark their territory and damage the trees.
- With higher concentrations deer are more likely to spread disease to other deer and to humans
- Deer have a naturally balanced digestive system that is tuned to a different diet depending on the time of year. Feeding deer will disrupt this natural rhythm and can cause illness and digestive problems.
- Feeding deer can also cause malnutrition. As deer depend more and more on humans, they lose their ability to look for food. Food provided by humans also may not meet their nutritional needs.
- Deer will bully each other for access to easy feeding ground, injuring weaker deer and driving them out when they struggle to adapt back to their natural diet
- Deer that are fed stay around that area and tend to wait close together, making them easy targets for predators. They are also more likely to be near urban areas and be hit by vehicles, posing danger for themselves and humans.