Expert asks B.C. residents to steer clear of deer during mating season

It’s deer mating season and during this frisky time, an expert says, you’ll want to keep your distance.

The BC SPCA says rutting season typically happens around October to December, where male deer or bucks tend to show more aggressive behaviour because they’re competing with other males to breed.

A Specialist in Wild Animal Welfare at the BC SPCA Nadia Xenakis says the SPCA wants to make sure everyone is keeping themselves and their companion animals safe around deer.

“You’ll see them kind of fighting with each other. You’ll see them rubbing their antlers on trees or different materials. You might see them in places you wouldn’t normally see them near roadsides, maybe more common in public,” she said.

“There can be instances of companion animals and deer getting into conflict during this time. So just to make sure everyone’s safe.”

She says it’s best to have your companion animals leashed around deer and if a deer approaches it’s best “pick up your animal and kind of leave the area.”

Xenakis also recommends slowing down while driving for all wild animals at this time of year.

“So we just had daylight savings. As our routines change, they’re going to be near roadsides. It’s getting darker. The risk of a vehicle collision with wildlife is really high. So to make sure you’re slowing down, especially if you see a buck or a deer kind of near a roadway, they might run out in front of the car,” she said.

The animal expert says it’s best to not feed the animals, and just give them lots of space.

“Another big one is not throwing anything outside your car, such as food, like if you’re eating a banana or an apple, a lot of people are like, ‘it’s biodegradable, I can just throw it outside,’ but this can be really dangerous for wildlife… So making sure we’re never feeding wildlife or we’re not leaving garbage outside to attract them to roadsides is really important.”

Xenakis also advises people to think about where they are putting up there Halloween and Christmas decorations, because sometimes these things can impact animals that have antlers.

“Bucks can get their antlers caught in items like this and become entangled…This can be either quite severe, and you’d have to call for help, or sometimes they just have items in their antlers, and then it will eventually fall off,” she said.

“Just being mindful of where you’re placing, kind of Christmas lights or decorations, and how it might impact wild animals is another way that you can keep them safe.”

Last week in an unrelated incident, police on Vancouver Island were warning residents to protect their pets during deer mating season after a buck killed a dog while in the backyard of a home.

The dog owner reached out to police to raise awareness about the topic. He says there are some large deer in Oak Bay and the males can be “unpredictable” and “aggressive” in rutting season, and it’s important for people to keep their pets at a distance.

-With files from The Canadian Press.