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Friday, August 24, 2012 9 0-382-526 h Road 25 50-756-4114 ic n a a S 1 0 Victoria 35 0 North Island Hwy 2 320 Nanaimo
Wolf thought to have left island and returned Christine van Reeuwyk News staff
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Mary-Jo Morin is ready to defend herself and her dog Zeebo with a golf club if necessary from a deer attack. Morin was approached recently near her home in the Rockland area by a doe with two fawns.
Aggressive deer chases woman Neighbours help scare potentially dangerous animal away Daniel Palmer News staff
A Victoria woman who was chased by an aggressive deer last week is afraid to walk in her own neighbourhood. Mary-Jo Morin, a Rockland neighbourhood resident, said she was walking her dog Aug. 14 on Rockland Avenue when a deer came within a metre of her and exhibited extremely aggressive behaviour.
“I started screaming, my neighbours came out and chased it off,” Morin said, adding the incident is the fourth encounter she’s had with what she believes is the same animal and her fawns. “If she had got me with her hooves or my dog, we would have been really badly hurt,” she said. Morin called a provincial conservation officer, who attended the area but was unable to locate the deer. “He asked me to take a picture of the deer next time. I said that would be a bit difficult because I was running away from it,” she said. Conservation officers rank calls by the
level of risk to the public, and with only one officer on shift in the Capital Region at any given time, bear and cougar sightings tend to take priority. “We’re getting a lot more calls about aggressive deer, but so far, nobody’s been injured by them,” said conservation officer Peter Pauwels. “Some pets have been attacked, but no people have been injured.” Pauwels said conservation officers have only two options with deer – kill them, or leave them alone. PLEASE SEE: Resident wants resolve, Page A5
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A wolf haunting Discovery Island likely made a quick swim and returned this month. “The last sighting we had was Aug. 16 on Trial Island,” said provincial conservation officer Peter Pauwels. There are reports from Aug. 18 of a wolf howling on Chatham Island, suggesting the wolf made the return swim. The wolf has been lurking on the islands since May when it was first reported by campers on Discovery Island. “We haven’t had any other sightings,” Pauwels said. “We don’t think it’s still on Trial Island.” Though other Gulf Islands are occasional destinations for lone wolves, being adjacent to natural wolf habitat, this is the first for Chatham, Discovery and Trial islands. Saturna had one 10 years ago and Sidney Island about 15 years ago. The pack animals aren’t usually seen solo. “Every once in a while an individual wolf will leave a pack for what we think is conflict within the pack,” Pauwels said. “They usually don’t stay on their own too long because they are a social animal. They like to live in groups.” Attempts to trap the wolf in early August were unsuccessful. While the wolf has yet to rejoin its pack or join another group, the conservation service doesn’t have immediate plans to revisit relocating the wolf. “The wolf hasn’t demonstrated any aggressive behaviour there,” Pauwels said. “If it were to stay on those islands it might become accustomed to people and that’s something we’d rather not see happen.” cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com
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