Parts of Municipality of Colchester to hold plebiscite on managed deer cull

Voters in some Municipality of Colchester areas will be asked if they support a managed deer hunt.

The plebiscite will be part of the upcoming municipal election for voters in six Colchester council districts adjacent to the Town of Truro and Millbrook First Nation, where a similar hunt has happened since 2022.

Deer population increases are disrupting local ecosystems, destroying property and contributing to car crashes, according to the municipality.

Both candidates for mayor are in favour of a hunt.

"When you start getting the phone ringing and people complaining that they can't grow vegetables, they can't keep their ornamental plants, their gardens that they have worked on for years to beautify the community you sit up and you take notice and you do recognize that we do have a problem," said Christine Blair, who is seeking re-election as the municipality's mayor.

Geoff Stewart, who is also running for mayor, said the deer problem is on the mind of voters.

"So now is the time to act on it," he said. "This gives the public an opportunity to be engaged and use their democratic right on how they feel we should proceed."

Earlier this year, the municipality and the province began collecting data on deer in the Brookside, Bible Hill and Valley areas. There are plans to expand that work to Salmon River, Truro Heights, Lower Truro and Hilden next year.

On Oct. 19, voters in those communities will be asked if they "support a safely managed urban deer bow/crossbow hunt to control and reduce the urban deer population in and around your community?"

During the last municipal election, 53 per cent voted in favour of the managed urban hunt in Truro. More than 100 have been killed in the past three years and the hunt is scheduled again this month into next.

"Deer don't tend to have jurisdictional boundaries the same as we do," said Truro spokesperson Alison Grant.

"We know that the [deer] population numbers are large in our nearby municipalities. So we would welcome any sort of collaboration or partnership on the program and certainly are interested in exploring more about what they might potentially end up doing."

'Very little waste' 

The deer meat is donated to food banks. The killed animals are also used for research.

"There's very little waste," said Kim George, a regional biologist with the Department of Natural Resources. "Most of the animals you use. So it's been really positive that way and we're learning a lot from it."

Still, three years of population data is needed by the province before a managed hunt will be considered in any municipality.

In the meantime, George said the public can play a part by not attracting deer to their property.

"I think one of the big messages that we want to get out is for the public not to feed deer, not to feed wildlife. That's a management tool right there."