The Township of Muskoka Lakes is considering a bylaw that would prohibit the feeding of wildlife across the region, after receiving a petition from residents.
During the April 15 general committee meeting, Dean Bender and Susan Kinsella made a presentation to council on behalf of the Village of Windermere residents, highlighting the potential harm to wildlife when animals such as deer are fed by people.
Bender said the balance between humans and deer in the area has shifted.
“It’s like clockwork. They all come in to be fed. Their habitual feeding has been changed. They’re no longer out in the bush. They are coming into town, and they wait to be fed. And we can see the whole family, mothers, bucks, toads, and the fawn as well,” said Bender.
He said there are impacts on wildlife health, including cases of malnutrition among young animals, and that fawns are often pushed out as bucks, and does are usually the ones being fed, resulting in the young being malnourished.
As a result, he said deer have become used to the human presence, and they now proactively seek out food from people and rely on these established feeding locations. Bender said it has caused public safety concerns, as well as road hazards and environmental and ecological damage.
“The big one for us right now is disease transmission. These deer are now bedding in our gardens. They’re defecating on our lawns. We have children. We have a brand-new playground,” he said.
He said he has had to spend thousands of dollars trying to maintain his garden as “everything gets eaten.”
According to Bender’s presentation, feeding wildlife can also have consequences for population dynamics and biodiversity, including an increase in small predators such as raccoons, desensitization to humans, and the introduction of invasive species.
As a result, Bender and Kinsella presented a petition with 30 signatures from the Village of Windermere, requesting that council establish a bylaw with a penalty of over $200 prohibiting the feeding of wildlife within a one-kilometre radius of the village. They also requested consistent monitoring of the village by bylaw officers for enforcement.
Councillor Rob Bosomworth agreed with the proposal but said it would be better if they implemented it on a township level instead of just the village.
“I recognize it’s a big problem; it is all over our township,” he said.
Following a lengthy discussion, council directed staff to prepare a report outlining strategies to manage the local wildlife population, including the potential drafting of a municipal by-law to prohibit feeding wildlife within the township.
